An Angel's Heaven
by SimplySupreme
Summary: Anna is normal. It isn't until she dies, and is informed that she's the last descendant of a pair of vanished elf princes, that she realizes that she's more than what she seems. Anna means 'gift' in Quenya. That is what she has received from the Valar with her new life in Arda, and is what they intended for her to be to the Noldor. Because even fallen angels deserve second chances.
1. Prologue: Lost Boys

_A/N: So, I figured that it was about time that I payed my dues and posted the mandatory LOTR Girl-falls-into-Middle-Earth fic. Ergo, here it it. However, I really wanted this to be something unique, so I busted out the Silmarillion and came across a specific bit of history that I could use for my nefarious fanfiction purposes. This story is pre-LOTR and Hobbit, though it may well continue on through those eras, depending upon how far I take it. As such, it will start out purely book-verse. (Don't worry though, movie-watchers! I'll make sure that you can enjoy it without having read anything.)  
__What with real life and all, my updates may be a bit sporadic later on, so I apologize in advance.  
__In the meantime though, please do enjoy!_

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An Angel's Heaven: Prologue  
Lost Boys

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History reflects upon those who created it. It is only as equally terrible and beautiful as it is made. Some treasure it for this very reason, and others seek to forget those parts of it that cause an ache in their hearts. Anna had always been of the opinion that history was of indeterminate value, for its worth isn't something that can be quantified. It cannot feed a starving man, nor can it warm a child in the throes of the winter months. History cannot heal the sick, nor can it hold strong against a biting wind. But history _does_ give these struggles meaning. Context.

History is the story of life. It is more than a droll recitation of facts into empty air: _someone did something significant in such-and-such time and place_. It is the story of living world—of millions of lives twined together, all telling different versions of the same story, different stories, and stories woven together in different ways. So _much_ of the multifaceted aspect of life is lost with the recitation of empty facts. History is what it is because people cared about what happened. They felt fear and hope and live, and they were pushed into greater roles and deeds than they could have ever dreamed. History is not an entity that can (or should) be relegated to a shadowed shelf in a dreary records room. It is the inheritance of the people and places that lived it, and a gift to all who follow.

The way Anna saw it, you could use history in one of many ways. It could be valued, learned from, and honored. You could weep for the glories that could have been and were lost, and rejoice for those things that endured the ages, even if, at one time, few had faith that _anything_ would. We record the stories of life in remembrance of those who are lost, and those who had the strength and will to persevere. They did not weep and wait upon fate, but battled on simply by living.

History immortalizes the best and worst of us, and we deserve to keep that truth.

Anna was no historian, but that much she knew.

What she _didn't_ know was her _own_ history. To be fair, she didn't even know that she didn't know it, but from the moment of her birth to the moment of her death, she was ignorant of the vast and breathtaking history of her own ancestors which –her ancestors being literally immortal—was, in all actuality, recorded in rich detail. It was a history that her predecessors had lost generations before her birth. Little did she know, Anna would soon become a part of this history in a way that she never could have imagined.

But perhaps the best place to start would be where all stories begin. The beginning.

No being that isn't a god of some sort could ever say in confidence how all that is was created, or by whom. What _is_ known is that there are many ways and places in which to exist. Those that are relevant to this tale are the three realms known as Arda, Aman, and Terra, otherwise called Middle Earth, Valinor, and Earth. Aman and Arda are, of the three, the most intimately connected. The path between them is the only one which can be traveled with relative ease, to those permitted, unlike the paths to Terra. In fact, there are only three travelers ever known to have moved between either realm and the realm of Terra. The first of these travelers happened to be Anna's ancestors. Twin brothers, and princes of Doriath.

They were elves.

In the beginning of the creation of Aman and Arda, there was no sun and moon. Instead, the Firstborn –the elves—walked under the light of the two great trees of Valinor. These trees were said to be of unparalleled and indescribable beauty. From the light of these trees, an elf by the name of Fëanor created three jewels known as the Silmarils. After the destruction of the two trees by Ungoliant, courtesy of Morgoth the fallen Vala, the Silmarils remained the only fragments of their light that survived. Unfortunately, the Silmarils were stolen, and the sons of Fëanor swore to take back their father's creations at any cost.

Thus began a very dark part of the history of the elves. It is a side of them that all wish to forget, but cannot. Many elves died at the hands of other elves in the three Kinslayings. It is the Second Kinslaying, however, that is most relevant to Anna's story.

The twin princes, sons of Dior, lived in the city of Menegroth. During the Second Kinslaying and sacking of Doriath, the servants of Celegorm, third son of Fëanor, captured the two children and cast them out in the wilderness to die. The eldest son of Fëanor, Maedhros, learned of this happening and scoured the forest for the lost princes in repentance of this deed, but he was too late. The children, Eluréd and Elurín, were never seen again upon Aman or Arda. They were assumed dead, and mourned for all of elvish history. Their sister, Elwing, survived, and would eventually become the mother of the twins Elros and Elrond, the first of which would become the first king of Númenor, and the latter Lord of the city of Imladris, as the same Lord Elrond who was so influential in the better-known tale of the late Third Age.

But Eluréd and Elurín did _not_ die. The Valar, despairing over the horrors of the kinslayings, could not bear to see the two young and innocent princes die in such a way. Instead, they sent them far from the chaos caused by the sons of Fëanor. Eluréd and Elurín were sent to Terra, where they were found and cared for by a mortal family. The boys, half-elves themselves, both chose to live out a mortal life with their new families, and each lived long and happy lives.

And, as the years and generations passed, all memory of the beginnings of Eluréd and Elurín were lost in the sands of mortal time as their descendents lived on as any mortals of Earth were wont to do.

Anna was the last. Although she did not know it, the thin bloodlines of Eluréd and Elurín had met for the first time with her birth, and she had the strongest presence of elvish blood since the twins themselves. However, as an only child from a long line of only children on both sides, she was also the only remnant of the families left alive. In the grand scheme of things, perhaps this would not have mattered. Anna would have –if given the opportunity—lived on, married, had a child or children of her own, and continued the cycle that had been ongoing for hundreds and hundreds of years. But Anna was not given this chance and, as circumstances would have it, the manner in which she was sent to her early death captured the attention of the deities of Middle Earth that had taken pity on her ancestors so very long ago.

The thing about history is that, inevitably, it always manages to repeat itself.

And thus, the blood of Eluréd and Elurín was returned to Arda in much the same way as it had left it: alone, afraid, and a child to a new world.

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_A/N: So, yeah. That's the prologue, and a bit of backstory, so you understand what's happening come chapter one._


	2. 1: A Bell Rings

_A/N: And I give you the first chapter! Though really, it's more of a second prologue. But whatever. Do enjoy._

_And thanks for all the feedback, reviews, favorites, and alerts! Especially to _Guest, Claribel21, _and _rowenstar.

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An Angel's Heaven: Chapter One  
A Bell Rings

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Anna hadn't ever really given much thought to dying. Cliché as it sounds, at nineteen, she really did think that she had all the time in the world left to live. Intellectually, she knew she could die any day. After all, she _was_ an EMT. She saw people die from horrible accidents on a daily basis. And yet it had never quite sunk in. Anna wasn't afraid to die. Everybody died. She didn't _want_ to die though, and when it came down to it, she died feeling sadness, and regret.

But didn't everyone?

Anna was, in all honestly, a fairly typical girl for her hometown of Glendale, Arizona. She was average height at 5'6", and of average coloring with dark hair and faintly tanned skin. She had elegant, somewhat aristocratic facial features, and light grey eyes, and the nail polish on her right hand was always applied more sloppily than the polish on her left. She'd worked as an intern in the ER unit of her local hospital since she was fifteen, and graduated high school with fairly good grades, after which she had immediately begun working as an EMT, attending school in the evenings so that she could become a doctor, one day.

Because that's what Anna wanted to do. She wanted to help people. Make them feel better. She'd wanted that ever since she'd fallen from her swing and needed stitches, when she was eight years old. The doctor who'd sewn up the gash in her forehead had been her hero, especially since he'd given her a green lollipop. Green was her favorite color and –incidentally—her favorite flavor.

Her parents weren't wealthy people though, and medical school wasn't cheap, so that's why Anna had taken the long way round and begun work as an EMT while attending evening classes for college. She still got to help people, and her dream was still within her reach. Anna was happy.

That is, until she died.

When the ambulance was called in, it was a reported drive-by shooting of an apartment building. No one was dead yet, thankfully, but there were several injuries. Anna had been happy to help patch up those civilians caught in the crossfire. She had just sent off a young man who had introduced himself as Dillon with her coworkers on a stretcher, in fact, when she heard the weak cry from the alley that ran along the side of the building. Naturally, Anna was very concerned. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility that a stray bullet had found its way into the alley, and if it had hit someone… well, Anna wasn't about to just _leave_ them.

So she'd dashed into the alley.

It was just bad luck that she didn't find another victim of the drive-by, but rather a woman sprawled out on the ground, clearly unconscious, and a man in a grey hoodie holding a gun to a child.

"Stop!" she'd shouted out without thinking. "What do you think you're _doing_?"

Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to startle the man with the gun, but Anna couldn't allow whatever had been happening continue. The little boy staring down the barrel of the gun was obviously terrified! So she'd shouted. Still, it was this action that got her shot. The man had jumped at the sound of her voice and just… pulled the trigger, giving the boy the opportunity to bolt out of the alley the way Anna had come, screaming for help.

Not that it would come in time to save Anna.

Anna, stunned, touched a hand to the red stickiness spreading over the dark blue cotton of her uniform from the center of her chest and gazed blankly at the retreating back of the man with the gun, before sinking to the ground, a cold stillness stealing its way over her body and her heart. How could he have done it? All he'd had to do was squeeze, and he had taken her life away from her, but _how_ could he have brought himself to do it? Anna found that she was having a hard time understanding. How could that man have forced himself to do such a thing to an innocent, not to mention the attack on the woman and child that she had interrupted! How could he have so easily harmed another human being?

It was then that Anna decided that she didn't _want_ to understand how the man could do these things. Instead, she succumbed to the heaviness of her limbs and mind. She died to the thundering peals of tolling bells, ringing, ringing, ringing…

_Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings._

When Anna returned to awareness, she was in darkness. She was frightened. It wasn't really _darkness_ though, she supposed. More like… nothingness. _She_ existed. She could see her own body just fine. But Anna couldn't see anything else; so she did what any other self-respecting female would do after dying and waking up in the vastness of nothing. She hugged her knees to her chest and wept like her heart would break. She was dead. That was it. Everything that was, along with everything that could have been, was _gone_. _She_ was gone, though she knew not where. It didn't much matter.

So Anna wept, feeling sad and angry and scared all at once, until she was interrupted by the silvery voice of a child.

"Angel, why do you cry?" he asked.

Anna jerked her head up and stared at the apparition before her -the only thing that existed, other than herself. This was the little boy whose life had been saved when she'd shouted. He was small. Six years old, tops, with big blue eyes and a mop of messy dirty-blonde hair capping his head. He was gazing at her with a mixture of sadness and adoration, and Anna found that she couldn't really regret dying. Not if this precious thing was safe because of her intervention.

Quieting her sobs, Anna wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I cry because I've fallen from heaven and can never go home," she told him. Anna didn't quite know why she said that, but it felt like the truth. She was dead. She wasn't going _anywhere_. Not in this nothingness.

The boy nodded, as if this made perfect sense to him, and stepped closer, his footsteps making no sound upon a floor that did not exist. Anna held his stunning blue gaze, keeping her grey eyes fixed upon his even when he reached out with his tiny hands and took her face between them before leaning in so closely that their noses touched. "Then you should take heaven with you, angel, wherever you go," he informed her solemnly before planting a little kiss on Anna's forehead and stepping back again. Before Anna could reply, he had vanished like he had never been.

Anna wasn't frightened though. Not anymore. She felt… calm. Oddly and unnaturally so. But calm nonetheless.

And then she wasn't in nothingness anymore. She was sitting upon the golden sands of a seashore, just feet from the green waterline. The waves kissed gently upon the sand in a soft tempo, and the scent of salt lay heavy in the air. Inland lay a field of unfamiliar –though beautiful—red flowers that stretched on seemingly endlessly, just as the ocean did to her left. The pale golden sand that Anna sat upon was a thin ribbon of separation between two infinities, and she felt it. She was held in suspension between two great _somethings_, and she wasn't sure if she quite liked the feeling.

Before she could decide, Anna was distracted by the reappearance of the little boy a few feet in front of her. He was different from before, though. He held a different, more powerful presence, and his eyes welled with emotions and power that only timeless age could bring. Anna knew that this was _not_ the boy she had rescued -the one who had called her angel- even if it looked like him.

"Do you wish to see your history, little gift?" he asked in a lilting accent. In fact, Anna was quite sure he wasn't speaking English, though she was understandably baffled as to how she could understand him if this was the case.

Instead of attempting to puzzle through what was and wasn't possible in death, however, Anna decided to answer the boy's original question. "I think I would very much like to do so," she replied after a moment's consideration, ignoring the fact that _she_ didn't appear to be speaking English either. After all, sometimes, the only way to move forwards was to move back.

Smiling mysteriously in response, the boy extended a hand and pressed the tip of his index finger to her forehead, where previously he had kissed her. Immediately, images and concepts and impressions and names flashed through Anna's mind in rapid succession. She saw many things, on many worlds, but she knew that it was the story of the two boys that she knew to be named Eluréd and Elurín that was most important. It was disconcerting, to say the least, to start out not knowing something, and to suddenly _know _it. But now she knew that –somehow—the two little elf princes were her ancestors, and that she, Anna, was their last descendant.

The images stopped, and she gasped for breath, blinking profusely. "Wh-what does this mean?" she stuttered at the boy, whom she now knew for certain was no boy.

Said boy-that-was-not-a-boy smoothly lowered himself to the sand, so that he was sitting just opposite her, Indian-style. "It means that you have an unusual choice to make, little gift," he informed her, cocking his head to one side and considering her as a cat would a mouse. "The blood of the Firstborn is strong in you. You died well. If you are willing, we think that it is time that the blood of Eluréd and Elurín was returned to Arda."

Anna blinked. "And what does _that_ mean?" she asked, a somewhat sardonic twist to her lips.

The boy grinned, and held out his little hands palms facing upwards towards the noonday sun. "On one hand," he began, wiggling the digits of his left hand. "You are, in essence, a mortal, and you have lived your mortal life. You may go where the _fëa_ of all the mortals of Terra go when the _hröa _dies. On the _other_ hand—" The boy wiggled the fingers of his right hand. "You have elvish blood, even if it is diluted. The Kinslayings have long since passed, and though Arda is not without its share of evils, it has been deemed safe for the blood of the sons of Dior to return. If you choose this, the Valar would re-embody you with your elvish blood in full, giving you the choice of the _peredhel_, as was given to your ancestors. You would dwell upon Arda until such a time as you chose to return to Aman, as an elf, or die as a mortal once more." The boy's round little face grew very solemn, and his gaze bore into Anna. "This option is more than a second chance for _you_, little gift," he warned. "This is a second chance for _all_ elves to atone for the actions of the sons of Fëanor. Do you understand?"

Anna bit her lip. "I think so," she breathed, her voice shaky.

And really, she did. She could stop here, or she could move on. And if _she_ moved on, she would be doing so not only for herself, but for others.

So the choice was, left hand or right hand?

If Anna was being entirely honest, a large part of her wanted to simply… let go. She would be at peace with truly dying, she knew. Death was not a cruel thing. It was _life_ that truly hurt. Anna wasn't sure if she had the courage to face life again. But another part of her whispered that she _did_ have the courage: that she could be brave, just as Eluréd and Elurín were so long ago, when they'd lost everything but each other and were forced into a new world.

_Then you should take heaven with you, angel, wherever you go._

Anna reached out and grasped the boy's right hand. Her decision was made. It was a good decision too, if his wide smile was anything to go by.

"Good luck, little gift," he sighed. "The grace of the Valar goes with you."

And Anna once again sank into darkness.


	3. 2: Golden Savior

_A/N: Welcome back! Thank you _saint21, horseyyay, Mellon, Claribel21, amaris12345, Furionknight, _and_ rowenstar_ for the reviews._

_a response to the review left by _a reader_: I'm sorry that you found my writing lifeless, but honestly, the point of the first chapter_ was_ to tell. I wanted to make sure that everyone who hadn't read the _Silmarillion_ had at least some familiarity with the bit of it that I will be referencing, and I was glad to sacrifice the emotionality of that chapter for that purpose, as I want _everyone_ to enjoy my story, not just the book-readers. As for your concerns with the plausibility of Anna being sent back to Arda as an elf, even though she was fully mortal, I'll grant you that it's a stretch and doesn't quite fit. However, there's a first time for everything, and complete and total plausibility isn't my main concern with the story. (This also goes for your mention that Middle-Earth is just Earth ten thousand years ago.) Again, I apologize that you feel that this is just another cliché. I'm trying to steer away from that, but I think you'll find that it gets less cliché with later chapters, if you still care to read._

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An Angel's Heaven: Chapter Two  
Golden Savior

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_Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings._

_ Angel, why do you cry?_

_ I cry because I've fallen from heaven and can never go home._

_Then you should take heaven with you, angel, wherever you go._

With a gasp, Anna returned to awareness, the words that the boy had spoken to her ringing in her ears like the bells of Mandos had. But this time, she didn't awake in nothing, nor did she wake upon the shore of a vast ocean. Instead, she woke beneath the sheltering canopy of trees. _Trees_. Live trees.

And oh, was Anna _alive_! She hadn't even sat up, and she was reveling in a new appreciation for life. She could feel each kiss of the breeze on her skin, and taste the sweetness of the air with every glorious breath she was able to inhale. Her heart thumped steadily in her chest, and perhaps best of all, she felt light and free, and she didn't _hurt_! Gleefully, Anna curled her toes and flexed her fingers, a wide grin flowing over her face. Then, she carefully sat up and gazed around her. So far as Anna could tell, it was late morning. She hadn't the faintest clue as to where she was, aside from a general description of 'Arda', but Anna didn't think knowing where she was would have helped either way. It's not like she had anywhere to go.

Still, Anna thought that it would probably be wise to seek some sort of civilization, and scrambled to her feet rather clumsily.

That was her first clue that something was wrong. Anna generally wasn't very clumsy. Not graceful, but not clumsy. Not to this extent. It was strange. Anna felt like she was all the wrong sizes, and that her center of balance had shifted to a completely different place. Looking down at herself in a strange blend of confusion, worry, and consternation, Anna saw that her EMT uniform hung off of her frame like drapery, and she realized that her initial impression was entirely too correct. She _was_ all the wrong sizes. She'd shrunk.

"You have _got_ to be _kidding_ me," she groaned out loud, then froze in place as she realized that, not only was her voice significantly higher and far more sparkling than before, but –just like it had been when she was speaking to the nameless Vala in the form of the little boy—the words flowing past her lips weren't in English. This in turn, set of a round of rather volatile swearing, which only faded into silence and shock when, upon examination of her own body, Anna discovered that she hadn't _just_ shrunk. Her body was the body of a child, not that of the fully-grown woman that she had died as.

Those… those _bastard_ Valar had turned her into a _child. _A child!

Anna felt that the miniature mental tantrum she threw at the very thought was entirely warranted, and not child-like _at all_. She was happy for a second chance at life. Really, she was. But Anna just didn't understand what she'd done to deserve having to go through puberty _twice_. She'd eaten all of her green vegetables for years, dammit!

After she'd taken a moment to calm down, Anna took stock of her situation, all too aware of the fact that she seemed to have been dumped off in the middle of nowhere. She didn't have much. She had only what had been with her when she died. The blue cotton uniform, complete with bullet hole and bloodstain (_not_ such a pleasant reminder of what had just happened) that she wore was far too large to be practical. Rifling through her pockets, Anna frowned at the paltry loot that she produced. A flashlight with a dead battery (useless), a ballpoint pen (potentially useful later down the line), a small pocketknife with a collapsible blade about two inches long (quite useful), a bloodied pair of gloves (gross), and a chain of six paperclips (who knows).

Anna had no water, and she had no food. It seemed that it was becoming more and more important that she find some sort of settlement. At least her child-body had _one_ use, she mused. People would probably be much more likely to help her if she looked like a small and helpless five-year-old. She would go south, she decided arbitrarily. South was as good a direction as any.

So, Anna rolled up the hems of her pants and pulled the drawstrings tight around her tiny waist, glad that her shirt was now so long that it came down past her knees, so if she lost her pants entirely (which seemed entirely likely, with how small her butt now was) she wouldn't be entirely indecent. It was difficult to walk in the pants, but Anna didn't want to leave them behind, especially since she suspected that the nights would grow cold. Her black sneakers, however, were a lost cause. It was easy to simply pull her socks farther up her little legs, but the shoes would never remotely _begin_ to fit. She left them tucked beneath a bush, along with her bra (which really quite saddened her), the broken flashlight, and the blue rubber gloves she'd been using to treat the victims of the drive-by before she'd run into the alley. These weren't things that she thought she could take with her. Anna kept her shoelaces, however, and the paperclips, pocket knife, and pen. She figured that, if all else failed, she could MacGyver her way out of a sticky situation.

And then, Anna started walking. And walking. And walking.

At first it was difficult. Her various body parts moved differently than she was accustomed to, and seemed to constantly be in all the wrong places. Anna was also forced to contend with her wonky senses. She could see far better than she ever had in her life, and the same applied to her hearing, which made her jumpy, as every noise she heard seemed much closer than it really was. Honestly, it was giving her a pounding headache.

It also seemed, much to Anna's consternation, that her new childlike body also possessed a childlike will of its own. Her attention span had been reduced to that of a goldfish, and many times over the hours that she walked, she had been confronted with the strangest urges. Over the span of both the remainder of the morning and the afternoon, she'd felt a burning desire to go explore a curious copse of gnarled trees, chase a butterfly, roll sideways down a hill, pick flowers, and run through some tall grass like a bird trying ever so hard to fly. Hell, Anna even felt the urge to _giggle_. What was worse, was that she'd almost given in, every time. Such weakness usually sent her into a fit of sulking that lasted for at least five minutes. (Attention span of a goldfish.)

It wasn't until the sun began its descent that Anna heard the first sounds of water. At first, she'd thought she was imagining it, it was so faint, but as she'd traveled on, it only grew louder. Excited to be free of the monotony of walking through the thin trees and scruffy bushes, Anna broke into an uncoordinated run and, as a result, nearly fell right into the river.

Now, having lived in Arizona all her life, Anna was no expert on rivers, but this one seemed all right. It was of a decent size and current, and seemed fairly clean. She hoped that this meant it was safe to drink from, as she was drinking anyways. Walking had made her _thirsty._ Thankfully, the cool, refreshing water didn't immediately cause her to keel over and die, so Anna supposed that she was safe for the time being. Only time would tell if she'd contracted something awful, like dysentery.

It was at this moment, leaning over the water, that Anna caught sight of her new reflection for the first time.

God, Buddha, Eru, Allah, and Valar, she was _adorable_! Anna wanted to pinch her own cheeks. Sure, she was dirty and a bit scruffy-looking, but to be fair, she'd literally been born (again) that day. What was a little mud and blood amongst reincarnated beings, eh? Her hair had darkened considerably from its previous soft brown, and was now closer to black than anything. It fell ramrod straight down her back, coming to rest somewhere a few inches below her shoulder blades. Surprisingly, her aristocratic facial features hadn't really changed much, although her nose had thinned out slightly and her cheeks were pink and baby round. (Anna assumed that this was because she was, in fact, a baby, appearing to be around five years old at most.) Her eyes, though they still retained their original grey hue, were larger and more heavily-lidded than they once were, and almost seemed to gleam silver in the right light. In fact, now that she was paying attention, Anna noticed that _all _of her seemed to gleam softly, like one of those glowsticks that kids crack in their hands to activate and wave around on Halloween, except more… starlight-y, if that was even a word. She hadn't noticed in the brightness of day, but as the sun set, this phenomena became more and more prominent. It wasn't a bad thing to look at. Rather pretty, really—but it was strange, and distinctly inhuman.

Of course, Anna wasn't really human anymore, she reasoned. The boy-that-was-not-a-boy had told her that the Valar (of which she assumed he was one, considering the fact that he referred to them as 'we') would return her to Arda as an elf, whatever that was. She sincerely hoped that elves merely aged more slowly than human beings, as opposed to the idea that they remained children for eternity, like in the movie 'Santa Clause'. That would almost be _worse_ than having to go through puberty twice. It dawned on Anna then that she actually knew very little about elves, when it came right down to it. She knew that they lived forever –or close to it—from the references to the choice between mortality and immortality. She knew that they apparently loved shiny jewels made from trees (not that she knew how that was possible) very much. She knew that the three Kinslayings caused the surviving and non-participating elves great distress. She knew the names of her closest elvish relations. She knew that they were the only race free to pass between Arda and Aman. She knew that they were closely enough related to humans that they could have children with them, hence her own existence. And, apparently, they glow.

But maybe that was just her.

It took a bit of effort, but eventually, Anna consciously managed to dim the glow down to a subtle glimmer along her newly baby-smooth skin, though it left her feeling cold and a lot less safe. She might look like a child now, but she _wasn't_ afraid of the dark, and Anna drew the line at acting as her own nightlight.

This accomplished, she went about scrubbing herself free of dirt and blood as fast as she could in the icy cold water, discovering her pointed ears (Which _hurt_, by the way, when you tugged on them –hurt a _lot._) in the process. After that, Anna allowed herself to take another long drink of the water. The cold water on her empty stomach didn't feel too good, but it quieted the hunger pangs, at least. In any event, it was the best Anna could do for herself at the moment.

After that came sleep. Like the flip of a switch, Anna's body had gone from highly energized to completely worn out in a seeming instant. She wandered back a little ways into the trees and curled up in a hollow between two large tree roots, back pressed against the wood, which thrummed with a vibrancy that Anna could somehow sense. The tree was content and playful, and it made her feel safe enough to drift off into oblivion. She never really _slept_ though, per se. Anna was always aware of her surroundings. She knew when it became fully dark, and she knew when a small doe wandered close by. She'd been right about it growing colder at night, but Anna didn't fare too badly, curled into a tight ball as she was. It wasn't sleep –it was more of a deep daydream—but it was still restful, and at the moment, Anna would take what she could get.

By the time the sun rose, Anna was ready to begin another day of walking. She was a bit sore from her earlier exertions, but it was nothing too bad. She decided that it would be best if she stayed close to the river for the time being, as it was her only source of water. She followed it west, this time, and found that it was much nicer to walk when you weren't always thirsty. Hunger was another problem altogether though. Anna had absolutely no idea what was safe to eat out here. She'd never been much of an outdoorsman, always busying herself with studying medicine instead. She'd probably end up poisoning herself, if she tried to collect anything to eat, and she couldn't catch anything either, as she had no way to start a fire to cook it. Frankly, she just hoped that she found other people before she starved to death.

Anna walked all through that day. (Though she did stop sometime in the afternoon and curl up against another tree for a short nap. And she also made a stop to roll about in a small meadow of yellow flowers that she encountered. And to make a lumpy sort of pyramid out of some pretty green stones. And to balance leaves atop the waters of the river and track their progress down the currents. And… well, yeah.) Anna did much the same through most of the next day too. All of this took place before she truly encountered her first struggle. That struggle was the rain.

Now, this wasn't the nice, warm rain that's good for dancing in. This was the harsh, heavy rain that was more sleet than anything, and fell down so hard and thick that you couldn't see more than ten feet in front of you, elf or no. Anna first noticed the storm clouds in the early afternoon, looming black and menacing on the western horizon. The wind had been rather aggressive all morning, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to simply curl up in the roots of a tree for the night, as she'd done the two nights past. She'd need shelter from the storm. Unfortunately for Anna, her surroundings were anything but conducive to survival of a storm. It was all she could do to simply press on and hope for the best.

She seemed to be doing quite a lot of that lately.

The storm hit before Anna found a suitable place to squirrel away for the night, and it hit with unimaginable fury. The world was nearly pitch black, only illuminated through brief flashes of lightning, followed by thunder so monstrous that it shook the air and rattled Anna's clenched teeth. She stumbled forwards blindly and frantically, completely soaked through with rain that pelted with such force that it left little red welts on her numb skin. She was afraid. Terrified. Ironically, more so than when she'd died, though Anna thought that this was more so because she'd died fairly quickly. The wind gusted her tiny body around like an errant leaf, and Anna could barely make it a few steps without either crumpling into the mud or colliding with a tree she hadn't seen. She sobbed all the way, shaking violently with the iciness of cold and fear.

Anna had always thought rain to be beautiful, but she'd never experienced a storm like this one. Needless to say, her opinion had been drastically altered.

She wanted her mother. But her mother wasn't there.

In the end, Anna stumbled helplessly about in the storm for about two hours, though she really was in no state to keep track of time. She couldn't remember ever being so grateful for anything as she was when a flash of lightning revealed a clumpy rock formation atop a small hill. It took about twenty minutes for Anna to reach it, because the hill really was steeper than it first appeared to be, and the girl-turned-elf-child kept slipping down the side of it thanks to the slickness of the mud. She lost her too-big pants sometime during the process, as they'd become too soaked with water and mud to stay up, but Anna didn't care. The little sheltered hollow she discovered between two of the craggy boulders atop the hill was by no means dry, but it protected her from the wind and quite a bit of the rain, and Anna curled up within it gratefully, shivering so hard that it took more effort than it should have to tuck her knees beneath her chin and hug her legs closer to her torso in an effort to conserve heat.

Several hours passed before the rage of the storm began to abate. It took longer for Anna to stop shivering, and longer still for the soft noises of her crying to fall silent as she slipped off into an exhausted sleep; a true sleep this time, with eyes tightly shut and breathing shallow.

Come morning, she woke with the sun as always. This morning, however, Anna hadn't the will to make herself move. Her had pounded with a heavy ache, and she was stiff with mud and cold and utter exhaustion, limbs feeling as if they were replaced with blocks of lead. Instead of trying to get up, Anna merely lay still and cast bleary, unfocused eyes over the landscape, trying desperately to gather thoughts that seemed to slip away from her like minnows in a stream. It seemed that nothing had escaped the wrath of the sudden deluge. The river was swollen and angry in its rushing, the trees battered and stripped of loose foliage. Even the earth had suffered, now pockmarked with divots and little streams that had not been there before. Had she been warmer, dryer, cleaner, and less hungry, Anna might have said that the sight of the morning sun reflected a thousand times over in a world full of tiny glittering mirrors might have been savagely beautiful, but she was not, and at the moment, all she wanted to do was sleep for an eternity.

And she might have done just that if it weren't for a curious sound that met her sharp little pointed ears. A soft rumbling that grew steadily louder. Anna couldn't place it. A small earthquake? A mudslide? The growls of a humungous beast? But then, she recognized a pattern. _Horses_. What she heard were horses. They were moving somewhat slowly over the slick, unsteady ground, but Anna heard horses regardless. They were coming closer.

Like a frightened rabbit in its warren, Anna simply froze in place within the shelter of the nook, hoping that whoever rode these horses would simply pass her by. She was far too frightened to consider either alternately finding a better place to hide or flagging them down for help. Arda, she was beginning to understand, was a wild and dangerous place, and she was _not_ in the mood to deal with it this early in the morning. She wanted coffee first. And an unlimited supply of blueberry scones.

The horses, when they came in sight, were following the river, just as she had been in the days before. And what beautiful horses they were! Anna had never ridden a horse before, but she couldn't help but to admire these ones. They were absolutely massive, all of them, all powerful legs and rippling muscles, and they ranged in color from bays to chestnuts to grays, each possessing gleaming, healthy coats and long, flowing manes and tails. Their riders were far more mysterious, the vast majority wearing blue or grey hooded cloaks and each carrying a medieval weapon of some sort, be it a sword, bow, or both. They rode their horses bareback save for a few light saddlebags here and there, and even from a distance, Anna could tell that they were unusually tall in stature.

Anna held her breath as they passed by. These riders were alert. And _armed_. She was alarmingly weak at the moment, and if they proved unfriendly, she couldn't run away if she wanted to. Hell, if she were being entirely honest, Anna wasn't sure if she had the strength to so much as stand, be it to either run away_ or_ to greet them. Thus, she aired on the side of caution.

That is, until she sneezed in just such a way that the semi-muffled sound echoed off the walls of her nook and, apparently, captured the attention of the lead rider. Anna was truly impressed with the man's hearing. Even with her new super-ears, she wasn't certain that she would have taken note of such a soft sound, were she in the rider's place. As soon as the sneeze had escaped from her, his hooded head whipped in her direction and he signaled for his company to halt with a flick of his wrist.

For a brief moment, Anna thought that her rather impressive coating of mud and small stature would be enough to hide her, despite the fact that the morning sun was streaming directly inside of her little hidey-hole, illuminating the interior. However, this was not so, as the hooded leader of the horse riders gestured sharply at her huddled figure with one hand and said something to his men. They dismounted, and her discoverer -flanked by two other hooded men- deftly began to climb up the hill with far more grace than Anna had previously managed.

Damn their full-sized adult bodies.

In response to their approach (with swords drawn, mind you, which are far scarier than a gun anyways, because it hurts more when you die—and she would know) Anna merely whimpered and pressed back farther into the rocks, as if they could protect her, watching the entrance to the outside world with wide, watery grey eyes. In what seemed to Anna to be far too short of a time to be entirely fair, the sunlight streaming in to her little cave was blocked by the imposing figure of the lead rider. His hood was still drawn up, so the once-human could see little of his face, only noting that he was clean-shaven, and that his eyes were a dark, steely grey, like storm clouds.

Upon getting a good look at her, those same dark eyes widened in shock. "A child…" the man breathed, immediately sheathing his great sword and gesturing for the two others who had followed him to back off before lowering his hood.

Anna's first thought was that this man was an honest-to-goodness angel.

He was undoubtedly the most beautiful being she had ever seen in her life(ves). His face was, to put it mildly, utterly flawless, every sharp feature chiseled to perfection. He had high cheekbones and a strong jawline, and the most beautiful cascade of long golden hair that fell just over his shoulder blades, looking for all the world as if his stylist had been Midas himself. Had she not already been in the throes of it, Anna was convinced that she would have gone into shock then and there.

His face and eyes radiating concern, the angel began to speak to her in a strange language that reminded Anna a bit of Gaelic. She didn't understand a word he was saying to her, but she could only assume from his softened and coaxing body language that he was attempting to get her to come out.

And really, if she could have, Anna would probably have done so. She was at her breaking point, and she trusted this strange angel for no other reason than she felt like she should. She could _feel _that he was good, just like she could feel the emotions of the trees, when she focused hard enough. She found that she was too cold and tired and stiff to move though, and so did not. Anna didn't remember closing her eyes again, but when she felt warm hand gently scooping her sodden form from her resting place, she forced them open once more. The angel was still talking to her in the language she could not understand (which she felt was the epitome of stupidity, considering that she'd understood him just fine when he'd first spoken) and she frowned at him for it, even as his face grew ever more alarmed as he clutched her tiny little hands in his large, almost scorchingly hot ones, and began rubbing her arms. In a moment of inspiration, Anna understood his actions to be a response to a patient that was entirely too cold.

Too cold, too cold, too cold.

Yes, that was what she was, Anna decided, before going limp in the angel's arms.

* * *

_A/N: I really appreciate any and all ideas and feedback, so please let me know what you think! This is, above all else, a work in progress, and I hope I can improve my writing as I go. Thanks for reading!_


	4. 3: Elfling

_A/N: As always, a thank you to those of you who left such wonderful comments! (That would be _amaris12345, Qeani, asopo339, saint21, Mellon, Hinata'sMuse, Claribel21, _and _LittleNK_.) A lot of you asked if Anna's rescuer was Glorfindel, and my answer is yes. Glorfindel is my absolute favorite! He's going to be a very big part of Anna's life from here on in (because I think he's a BAMF and somewhat underloved) so get used to him being around. Also, if there are any other characters that you'd like to see, feel free to request them in a review while I'm still in the character-introduction phase of writing._

_But on to the chapter!_

* * *

An Angel's Heaven: Chapter Three  
Elfling

* * *

Anna was developing a habit of awakening in strange places after unexpected stints of unconsciousness, and she didn't think that this habit was a good one.

This time, Anna awoke on top of a horse, which honestly freaked her out a bit. She jerked in surprise and fright, and probably would have toppled right off if she hadn't been snuggled in the arms of the golden-haired angel. This, let it be known, also freaked her out.

Angel or no, Anna wasn't a fan of waking up in the arms of strange men.

She was warm though. For the first time in what seemed like a very long time, Anna felt _warm_, bundled tightly in what appeared to be the angel's grey-green travelling cloak and clasped tightly against his broad chest, jolting slightly with the motions of the horse. It was a good feeling. Though she knew she should not, Anna felt safe in the arms of the angel. He held her firmly, but gently at the same time, and Anna realized that she had missed this. She had missed the presence of someone else –_anyone _else. She had died seemingly _ages_ ago, and Anna suddenly recalled that the last person she'd seen (aside from the boy-who-was-not-a-boy who had conversed with her after she'd died) had been the man who had so callously taken her life.

And Anna knew that she would be forever grateful to this angel who held her so safely atop his horse. Not only had he saved her life, he'd shown her a face that wasn't one of a petty killer. (Well, she _assumed_ that this angel didn't make a habit of assaulting women and children in alleys, and shooting innocent EMTs looking for potentially injured victims.) It was… nice.

With her spasm of shock, Anna alerted the leader of the riders that she had regained consciousness, and he called out to the others, which Anna knew to ride behind him, "The child awakens! We shall stop here for the night."

After that, he switched his speech to the foreign language that he seemed to be under the impression that Anna could understand, and began speaking softly to her. He brought his horse to a stop with a firm pressure on the reins, and all around her, Anna saw the others do the same. She counted twelve horses and riders in all.

They were angels too. Though all were male, each was nothing short of beautiful. Not a one was under six feet tall, and each was lithe and willowy in shape, dressed in soft grays and blues and greens, and in somewhat archaic style, what with their tunics and belts and swords and such. Their hair was long, the shortest hairstyle amongst them still falling well past the man's shoulders. Most had varying hues of brown hair (though none had hair as dark as her own) but three had silvery blonde hair and two a deep auburn. The angel that was holding her seemed to be unique, with his golden hair, though the grey eyes he sported were far more common.

Gracefully, the man swung himself down from his horse, keeping Anna held safely to his chest, and landed lightly on his feet. Cautiously, Anna peered out at the other eleven riders as they scurried about, freeing the horses of the saddlebags and gathering firewood. They were still near the banks of the river, within the trees, though they'd managed to locate a small clearing to make camp, it seemed. From the position of the sun, Anna could tell that it was well into the afternoon. She was surprised she'd slept so long, really, as she didn't feel rested in the least.

One of the other angels then approached and took her discoverer's horse by the reins and led it away to where the others were being picketed. The breeze lifted the man's long brown hair slightly, and it was then that Anna noticed a detail of her rescuers' anatomy that she'd previously overlooked.

_Their ears were pointed_. Just like hers. (Not, Anna noted with mild disgust, that it was possible to tell beneath her full-body coating of dried mud. How they'd realized that she was a child and not a clump of dirt, she hadn't the faintest clue.) These weren't angels at all. These were _elves_. These were her new people.

Anna wasn't certain if she was nervous or glad.

It was probably for the best that she was shaken out of her musings, then, when the angel –elf—that held her carried her off to one side of the clearing and sat cross-legged on the ground. He kept Anna seated in his lap, but situated so that she could lean back against his chest for support, which she was glad for. She knew that it would have been difficult for her to keep sitting up by herself, as exhausted as she was. The elf asked her a question, his smooth, musical voice rumbling against her back, but Anna made no reply, seeing as she yet again didn't understand him. Instead, she merely tilted her head back and gazed upon the elf that was her angel, her silvery eyes locking with his stormy ones.

This elf was different than the others, she decided, and not simply because of his hair color. His eyes were older, and infinitely sadder, and he radiated an intangible power that Anna sensed was almost entirely unique, even among elves.

Seeming to accept that Anna wasn't going to be answering his question, the golden elf-angel merely offered her a soft smile and a small bit of bread, which she snatched out of his hand with shocking quickness and shoved directly into her mouth. Normally, Anna was a stickler for good table manners, but she hadn't eaten for literally as long as she'd been alive. (This being a little over three days.) She was _hungry_. Thankfully, the elf didn't seem offended in the least, and simply offered her another piece once she'd chewed and swallowed, which she took gratefully, and more slowly. The part of her that was a medically trained professional appreciated his effort to keep a starving patient from eating too much too quickly, which would have resulted in a rather unfortunate reappearance of said food. The part of Anna that was the starving patient wanted to whine and cry, as he seemed to dole out the third bit of bread far too slowly for her tastes.

Still, it didn't take long for Anna to finish the whole roll, and she slumped back against the elf contentedly, warm and fed and sleepy. She'd never had to go hungry before, and she knew that she'd never be unappreciative of a full belly again. She watched the other elves with droopy eyes. They'd finished setting up camp while she was eating, and those that hadn't vanished into the trees (four of which had) were lounging around the unlit fire pit, talking amongst themselves. Feeling quite unrepentant, Anna eavesdropped. They spoke of a place called _Imladris_, and of enemies called _yrch_. The four elves off in the forest were named Elris, Thandir, Nimglin, and Minlas, and were apparently the best hunters in the group. Except for Minlas, that is, who just _thought_ he was one of the best hunters in the group. The elves were hoping for a hearty evening meal, that night.

They also talked about Anna. Or, Anna _assumed_ that they spoke of her, as she didn't see any others nearby fitting the description of 'the child'. They wondered aloud how she'd gotten where she was, at least three days' ride from the nearest settlement, and formed some fairly interesting theories. They wondered over her obvious fear of elf-kind, and worried over why she hadn't spoken, except for wordless cries in her sleep.

Truthfully, Anna didn't _want_ to speak. She was still afraid, though she knew that if the elves had meant to harm her, they would have done so by now. What if she said the wrong thing, and they abandoned her, just as they'd done to her ancestors, Eluréd and Elurín? Anna knew she couldn't survive on her own. And they were certain to ask her what had happened to her, and why she was all alone. What would she say? Anna was a terrible liar, and she doubted that they would believe her tale of rebirth. Who knew what they did to liars?

No, it was better if she stayed silent, for the time being.

One of the silver-haired elves approached Anna and the golden-haired elf then, one of the leather saddle-bags in hand. "Lord Glorfindel," he greeted him, tactfully ignoring the way Anna shrank back into her angel's –Glorfindel's, apparently— chest at his nearness and placing the bag at his side. "How fares the child?"

"She is no longer dangerously cold, and has eaten well enough," Glorfindel replied, absently shifting beneath her to be more comfortable and running a soothing hand over the back of her head in response to her negative reaction to the new elf's closeness. "She has not spoken, though she seems fairly calm otherwise."

The other elf frowned. "What do you think happened to her?" he asked. "Surely humans are not so cruel as to abandon their own. Something dreadful must have occurred to her family for this to be so."

"I know not, just as I know not why she does not speak," Glorfindel grumped back.

Still frowning, the elf asked, "Do you think she can hear you?" Without so much as waiting for an answer, he reached out and snapped his fingers _right_ by Anna's ear. The sharp, sudden sound was somewhat painful to her heightened auditory senses, and Anna couldn't help but let out and indignant yelp and smack at the invasive hand, glaring daggers at him. To his credit, the blonde elf appeared a bit guilty and backed off rather hastily.

Glorfindel laughed lightly. "It seems that you have a way with females, Athae, be they ellith _or_ mortal women!"

Athae pouted slightly, but did not reply. Apparently, this observation had a grain of truth to it, not that Anna was in any way surprised. This Athae character seemed a bit oblivious, in her opinion, even if this opinion was biased with her current displeasure with him. She did find it worth noting, however, that these elves seemed to be under the impression that Anna was a human child. She supposed that this was why Glorfindel continued to speak to her in the other language, as opposed to what she assumed was elvish. He thought she spoke the human language.

Speaking of the human language, Glorfindel again addressed her in it, squeezing her shoulder lightly to encourage a response that Anna could not give. She frowned at him, frustrated that she could not understand. Quite suddenly, the elf stood, and she let out a little squeak of surprise. Glorfindel held her securely, so she supposed that she was in no danger of falling, but Anna still felt disconcerted. She was more aware of her surroundings now, after having eaten, and she clutched onto the front of Glorfindel's shirt to steady herself, greatly fearing falling. Glorfindel was _tall_. Six ten at the very least, by Anna's estimation. Were he to drop her, she being so small, she would undoubtedly sprain or break something.

Glorfindel didn't seem concerned though. His right arm, which was wound around her waist and beneath the crook of her knees, was steady. With his left arm, he shouldered the pack that Athae (who was currently, for some reason unknown to Anna, watching the scene and grinning like an idiot) had brought to him.

"We shall return shortly," Glorfindel informed his silver-haired counterpart. "If you are still smiling like that by the time we do, you'll be riding rearguard for the next forty years."

Appearing suitably horrified, Athae scurried off to the other elves with only a short wave and a quick string of human words in Anna's direction. Glorfindel just chuckled softly in response and turned towards the river, striking off at a leisurely pace that seemed horribly fast to Anna, who still clung tightly to his blue tunic-shirt. Her heart raced like a cornered jackrabbit within her chest as he did so. Where was Glorfindel taking her? Anna didn't think that he truly meant her harm, at this point, and she still felt a strong sense of inexplicable trust for him, not to mention the fact that the childish urges of her body, which she had now dubbed her 'outer child', demanded that she stick closely to the older elf. Still, the part of her that was a nineteen-year-old woman and emergency responder kept reminding her that this elf, no matter how kind, was a complete stranger, and that she was in no condition to defend herself should he change his mind about hurting her. Indecisive, Anna stayed frozen in Glorfindel's hold. She still had her small pocketknife in her breast pocket, she reasoned. She could feel its weight. The girl didn't think that it would do much good against the full-sized double-edged sword at Glorfindel's hip, of course, but it made her feel better all the same, knowing it was there.

It didn't take long for Glorfindel to reach the banks of the river. The waters were still high, but they had fallen some since that morning, and they weren't running any more quickly than usual. It was at this point that the elf set Anna down on her feet for the first time since he'd pulled her from her hiding place in the rocks. He released her slowly and carefully, making doubly sure that she was able to stand on her own, his grey eyes gentle. It was sweet of him, really, Anna decided. To be the recipient of such attentive care was strange for her, but it was very kind for Glorfindel to bestow it upon her.

She watched curiously as the golden-haired elf then began to rummage through the leather pack he'd brought along, curling her bare toes (her socks had long since shredded) into the soft earth of the riverbank. Shortly, Glorfindel had produced a folded blue shirt identical to the one he was wearing, a simple wooden comb, and a pale brown block of what Anna tentatively identified as soap. These he placed into Anna's hands, prattling on in that damned unintelligible language and gesturing towards the river. He then promptly turned with a reassuring smile and sat cross-legged on the ground, facing away from the water. It didn't take a genius to understand that he was giving Anna a chance to clean herself up, but even so, Anna found herself rooted to the spot for some moments, slightly stunned. (Though really, she shouldn't have been, little dirtball that she was.)

With a few suspicious glances thrown back to Glorfindel, who remained serenely in place, gazing back off into the trees in the direction of the elves' camp, Anna carefully placed the folded shirt on a dry rock and proceeded to peel her own shirt away from her skin. The once dark blue cotton, now mud-colored, was glued to her flesh with an unpleasant combination of dried blood, mud, sweat, and God knows what else, Still, Anna folded the garment as neatly as she could and placed it next to the other shirt on the rock. She laid her knife, pen, shoelaces, and paperclip chain on top of it before taking the soap in her too-small hands and eyeing the green-grey waters of the river with distaste. From experience, Anna knew that the water was quite cold, and having only just been warmed, she was in no mood to enter it. She glanced down at her naked body sadly. Every inch of her was dark with mud and blood. Anna knew she needed a bath quite badly, so with a resigned sigh, she stepped into the river.

It was just as miserably cold as she'd expected. Despite her mental preparation, a shocked gasp escaped her lips as the river lapped playfully against her legs. Biting her lip and shivering, Anna took a brief moment to wallow in self-pity before pressing the soap to her skin and beginning to scrub. The faster she got herself clean, she reasoned, the faster she could exit the water and plant herself in front of the nice, warm fire she'd seen the elves building. The grime floated free of Anna's body surprisingly easily, swirling about her in the shallow water near the riverbank before trailing downstream in a teardrop-shaped streak of brown. Having been dirty for so long, Anna greatly enjoyed the reminder of the sensation of being clean, and forced herself to suppress a groan of pleasure. It felt especially wonderful to clean her hair, which had dried into a stiff brown helmet on her head. Now, it fell in a dark, silky curtain down her back, its natural nearly-black color and soft texture restored.

Once she'd cleaned herself to her satisfaction, Anna raced out of the cold water, finally feeling human (or elf) again. Glorfindel hadn't moved an inch, for which Anna was grateful. She'd been hesitant about bathing with a stranger so near, but his presence made her outer child feel safe, and she decided to surrender this point. She combed her hair quite quickly (which was quite a feat, considering the size of the tangles she'd had) and pulled the clean tunic that Glorfindel had given her over her head. It was clearly one of his own, and it was comically large on her, the hem dragging on the ground and the 'short' sleeves nearly reaching her wrists. Anna felt like she was wearing a bedsheet. Still, it was better than the rags she had been wearing before, as it was clean and dry and smelt pleasantly of pine and warm grass. It was very soft to the touch, and it was _definitely_ better than nothing. After a few moments deliberation, Anna found a partial solution by knotting one of the shoelaces she'd saved around her tiny waist as a sort of belt, keeping the material from billowing away from her body. It wasn't perfect, but it was better.

After that, she pulled her hair back into a simple French braid and tied it off with her second shoelace. This left her delicately pointed ears exposed, and Anna hoped that Glorfindel would get the clue that she was an elf, and didn't understand him when he spoke in the human tongue. It would make her life easier.

Carefully gathering her belongings into her arms, along with Glorfindel's comb and what was left of the soap, Anna stepped up behind Glorfindel and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned, a bright smile on his young-but-old face, beginning to say something in the human language, but when he caught sight of Anna, his smile faltered, and his words were cut off by a gasp. He outright stared at her for several long moments, expression shocked and pained all at once, and she shifted uncomfortably beneath his gaze.

"You are of elf-kind," he finally spoke, still appearing somewhat shell-shocked.

Anna lifted an eyebrow at the 'thank-you-captain-obvious' moment, but nodded anyways.

Glorfindel suddenly smiled weakly. "You have not been able to understand a word I have spoken to you, have you, little one?" he questioned.

Smirking slightly, Anna shook her head 'no'.

The elf grinned at her. "Perhaps I am growing old, to not know an elfling when I see one," he teased in a self-deprecating sort of way. His eyes were still drinking in the sight of her like a starving man looks upon food. When his gaze moved to her left ear, however, his expression darkened. "Oh, little one," he breathed in a horrified tone, reaching out with one hand and turning her chin, so he could see her left ear better. "Who has maimed you?"

Anna blinked, not quite understanding. Maimed? Unbidden, her hand flew up to her ear. There was nothing wrong with it, so far as she could tell. (Aside from the fact that it was pointed, of course.) She'd even managed not to lose any of her earrings!

That was when she realized that the 'maiming' that Glorfindel was referring to _was_ her earrings. When she'd graduated from high school two years before, the first thing Anna had done with the graduation money that had been gifted to her from her friends and grandparents had been to visit a piercing parlor. She'd had her earlobes double-pierced since the third grade, but with this trip she'd gotten a belly button ring, three more studs in the upper cartilage of her left ear, and a small stud in the right side of her nose. It was probably the only stereotypical 'teen' thing that Anna had ever done. When her mother had found out, she was so shocked and horrified (she had a great fear of needles) that her reaction greatly reminded Anna of Glorfindel's current one. Though, to be fair, her mother hadn't used the word 'maim'. When she'd died, Anna had been wearing small diamond studs in each piercing, as opposed to anything larger that could possibly get in the way of her job. To be honest, Anna had completely forgotten that she was still wearing all of them, as she'd had bigger things to worry about these past few days. Such as dying, being reborn, becoming a child, becoming an elf, and trying to survive on her own in the wilderness.

Needless to say, Glorfindel's reaction to the sight was just so… out of place, and inappropriate to the situation, that Anna let out a surprised giggle. She knew that she shouldn't laugh at the elf, whose culture clearly didn't approve of piercings. He was genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. But it was just _funny_.

Glorfindel seemed a little disturbed at this reaction, however, so Anna sought to appease him rather quickly by giving him a genuine smile, reaching up and removing one of the earrings in her cartilage, and carefully placing the tiny piece of jewelry in the elf's smooth palm. He studied the earring curiously, frown still in place.

"You are in no pain?" he inquired, sounding rather skeptical. Anna didn't blame him. Her ears were several times more sensitive now than they had been when she'd gotten the piercings done. Had she been an elf at the time, she'd have never done it. It would have been excruciatingly painful.

Earnestly, Anna shook her head 'no' and offered her ear up for inspection, so that Glorfindel could see that the hole had long since healed. She then took her earring back and carefully replaced it as the elf looked on worriedly. Hoping to change the subject, she picked up the comb and soap from where she'd dropped them on the ground and offered them back to their owner, who accepted them hesitantly.

"Leave your previous clothing here," he recommended, taking the bait. "They are beyond repair, and unsuitable besides. We haven't any clothes with us for an elfling your size, so you'll have to make do as you are until we pass through a settlement to retrieve some."

Eagerly, Anna nodded and dropped her soiled uniform shirt where she stood. She no longer had any pockets, and so held her scant belongings in her hands. Glorfindel noticed this almost immediately. "Would you like to keep your belongings in my pack?" he asked. "They will be safe there."

Anna, indecisive, drew her eyebrows together and looked down at everything she owned in the world: six paperclips, a cheap ballpoint pen, and a collapsible two-inch pocketknife. They reminded her of home. Of her mother and father, and her friends, and all of the people she would never see again, because she was dead. Death was like stepping onto the other side of a door. Anna might have been the one who died, but to her, it was like everyone else were the dead ones, and she the one left alive. They were just as dead to her as she was to them, because they were separated by something more than space and time. She missed them.

Much to her mortification, Anna felt tears in her eyes, a strong childish urge to cry crashing into her quite suddenly. Quickly, she swiped her eyes dry with the back of her free hand and held out the pen and paperclips for Glorfindel to take. She would keep the pocketknife, just in case. She tucked it safely into her shoelace-belt, avoiding Glorfindel's gaze, knowing that he had seen the beginnings of her tears and feeling ashamed of them.

Thankfully, he didn't make any mention of them, nor did he give any indication that he'd seen them at all when Anna looked up again after having pulled herself together. It seemed that he was more intent on getting answers to his questions than calling her out on her moment of weakness. He knelt in front of her –though he was still significantly taller than her even then—and gripped her small hands in his large ones, warming them. "Little one, you must tell me: where are your parents?" he asked very seriously, intense steel grey eyes boring into her own lighter ones.

Anna could feel a nameless power emanating from the elf, and she suddenly felt very, very small. She was glad that Glorfindel seemed to be a good person, and willing to help a child in need, because she somehow felt that if he were to direct his ire towards her, she wouldn't stand a chance against him.

In answer to his question, she pursed her lips and lowered her eyes -which were again watering quite dangerously- in an obvious expression of greif. She would never see her parents again, she knew. And now Glorfindel knew it too. She could tell exactly when the golden-haired elf figured it out. He took a sharp breath, and squeezed her hands comfortingly. Surprisingly, Anna felt the better for it.

"Where is your home, sweetling?" Glorfindel asked, his voice gentler now.

Listlessly, Anna shrugged. She knew that he was looking for someplace he could return her to, but Anna truly had no home here.

_I cry because I've fallen from heaven and can never go home._

Glorfindel's face fell at this response. The corners of his lips turned down, and a crease formed between his eyebrows, beneath which the elf's dark grey eyes shone with disquiet. Anna couldn't help but think that her angel should never look so unhappy.

_Angel, why do you cry?_

Tentatively, the girl reached out and smoothed the crease between the older elf's eyebrows with one slender index finger. His pitying expression was soon replaced by one of growing thoughtfulness.

"If you have nowhere that you wish us to escort you to," he began gently, "would you consent to returning to Imladris with myself and the others? It is home to many, and it could be home to you."

Anna nodded her assent immediately. Despite herself, she was rather fond of Glorfindel, and her outer child was even more so. She had no wish to be separated from him just yet. Besides, Glorfindel had a point. From the way he spoke, she assumed Imladris to be the elf city in which he and the others lived. Anna was an elf now, and beyond that, a return of lost blood. Certainly she could live and be happy there? At the very least, until she grew a little bigger.

At this, Glorfindel smiled at her once more and squeezed her hands before releasing them. "Come, little one," he said cheerfully, scooping her up into his arms again and starting back towards the camp. "It will be several days' ride back towards Imladris, and we've some elves to surprise."

* * *

_A/N: Not much for content, I know, but this was a very important chapter. First impressions are what relationships are made of, and I thought that everyone would appreciate knowing Anna's current state of mind. Don't worry about the other elves, because you'll meet them all next chapter!_


	5. 4: Little Shadow

_A/N: I'm back! As always, thank you to those of you who favorite-ed and reviewed, especially _Qeani, Hinata'sMuse, AppoloniaAstria, Emilyy, Guest, Mellon, Rigel100, amaris12345, Furionknight, asopo339, Trich, faye50free, rowenstar, haha21, mandiecandie, Alecta, _and_ Guest.

_So, to address a popular question that I keep being asked. _Pairings_. Well, obviously, we're still quite a ways out from that becoming a reality for dear Anna, unless elves are cool with pedophilia (which I really hope isn't the case). Still, I'd like everyone to know that I _am_ planning on giving Anna a love interest, eventually, later down the line, so you can all stop your fretting! (And no, it won't be Glorfindel. They have a much different relationship.) At the moment, my tentative plan is for her to (Please forgive the cliché.) be with Legolas.  
BUT before you crucify me! Just know that with Anna's heritage, the pairing is sort of a poetic justice, which is why I liked it. For those of you who don't know, Dior (the father of Eluréd and Elurín) was the king of the Sindar elves in Doriath. After their deaths, however, the line of kings was broken, with Elwing being the only surviving heir. The elf that took over leadership in the aftermath of this was Oropher. He lead the survivors to the Greenwood and founded a kingdom there with the Silvan elves. (Oropher was Legolas's grandfather.) So in essence, as the descendant of the elven princes, Anna is already the blood princess of the elves of Mirkwood, even if the line of Oropher now wears the crown. (Or at least this is true for those elves descended from the refugees from Doriath. The Silvan elves probably don't give a flying orc.) I thought that this was kind of cool, and definitely Tolkien-romantic, but if you really hate Legomances, feel free to drop a review and suggest something else and I promise to at least consider it. After all, I definitely have time._

_But without further chatter, let us begin!_

* * *

An Angel's Heaven: Chapter Four  
Little Shadow

* * *

Anna's mother had always described her social skills (or lack thereof) as 'selectively shy'. Anna wasn't a loud sort of person, nor was she very brave. She was highly uncomfortable around strangers, and even most acquaintances. Honestly, Anna much preferred to keep to her own thoughts as opposed to speaking with someone else, and so was generally somewhat recalcitrant in most social situations. Still, she could comport herself very well in these same social situations, should she choose to. Anna didn't choose this option often, of course, but she'd been known to talk the ears off of some of her patients when it helped to set them at ease. Anna would talk to complete strangers until she was blue in the face if the subject of conversation was in some way medically related, really.

That didn't mean that she still wasn't shy though.

That being said, Anna felt like dying on the spot when Glorfindel stepped back into the clearing in which the elves had made camp. The four elves that had been out hunting had returned while she and her angel had been down by the river, bringing the total pairs of eyes locked upon her small form to a solid eleven.

They were staring. And Anna didn't like it.

The elves were all stunned. Anna was beginning to regret pulling her hair back and exposing her ears. The elves hadn't paid her as much attention when they thought she was only a lost human child. Now, however, they were all looking at her in the same way that Glorfindel had: like she was the oasis in the middle of their figurative Sahara desert. It made her highly uncomfortable, and she shrank into Glorfindel's broad chest as much as she could to escape their shining eyes, a deep blush lighting up her neck, face, and ears. She kept her eyes downcast, unwilling to meet any of the searching gazes.

For a few long moments, all was silent. Then, one of the auburn-haired elves breathed, "By the Valar…" and it was as if the floodgates had opened. A wall of murmurs erupted from the group of elves as they exclaimed over the impossibility of an _elfling_ being where she was in the state she was in without something heinous having befallen the group she was travelling with. Was she from Mirkwood, they asked? She looked to be a Sindar. Was her party attacked by orcs? Whose daughter was she? Surely the Valar were smiling upon her, to have brought her into the path of their patrol when they did!

Glorfindel, bless him, completely ignored the reactions of his fellow elves. (Outwardly, that is. Anna felt the hum of amusement that rumbled in this chest.) He simply strode to the edge of the clearing, where he had earlier given Anna bread, and seated himself once more, this time leaning up against the trunk of an aspen tree. He released his hold around Anna's waist at this point, but she chose to remain curled in the elf's lap. He radiated heat, and Anna was cold, she rationalized. She was forced to admit though, that the true reason she stayed was because Glorfindel made her feel safe for no other reason than that he just… felt right.

Feeling heavy and tired, Anna laid her head on Glorfindel's shoulder and smothered a yawn, fighting to keep her eyelids from drooping closed. The other elves had, for the most part, returned to whatever tasks they'd been doing before they'd been disturbed with her presence, though they frequently threw sad, astonished, anxious, and concerned looks her way, which she studiously ignored. She didn't want to sleep, though. It would make her feel too exposed to their eyes.

"You are tired," Glorfindel observed from his place as both her bed and pillow.

Quite petulantly, Anna shook her head in the negative.

Her angel chuckled. "If you are not tired, than why is it that you can hardly stay awake?" he pointed out, quite genially.

Anna lifted her head and scowled at him.

"Sleep," Glorfindel recommended, grinning unrepentantly. "I will wake you for the evening meal."

Anna didn't have they heart –or the energy—to disobey. She sighed softly and dropped her head back down onto the golden-haired elf's shoulder, before allowing her eyes to glaze over and her mind to retreat into the strange not-quite-sleeping but not-quite-daydreaming state that seemed to have replaced true sleep for her.

True to his word, Glorfindel awakened her several hours later. Anna had been moved from her place on his lap and placed onto the ground beside the tree, bundled tightly in the elf's surprisingly soft cloak. She woke to him running a gentle hand over her cheek, crouching at her side.

"Stir yourself, sweetling," he murmured to her, giving her a smile worthy of a Hollywood darling as her eyes gained focus and she blinked drowsily. "The evening meal is ready."

Glancing behind him, Anna saw that the sun did indeed hang low against the horizon. The smell of campfire hung thick in the air, inspiring vivid memories of the sweetness of marshmellows and the growling voice of her father as he told scary stories in the night. Clutching the cloak tightly around her body, Anna sat up and returned Glorfindel's smile with a tentative twitch of her lips. He helped disentangle her from the material and hoisted her to her feet. The dying light of the sun and the flickering glow of the campfire made his golden hair dance with phantom flame, and Anna's first impression that the elf was really an angel was renewed.

"Come along, little one," he said, touching the top of her head, which barely topped his knees. "The others await us."

Admittedly terrified of the prospect of dining alongside the others with their inhumanly beautiful features and searching eyes, Anna clung to Glorfindel's pant leg as they moved closer to the bonfire, and to the other eleven elves as a consequence. Thankfully, he didn't seem to mind that he was being used as a human (or rather, elf) shield, and merely adjusted his pace so as not to accidentally kick her. The other elves had formed a loose ring around the fire and had seated themselves Indian-style on the soft earth. One of them stood by the fire, tending to a pot suspended above the flames, and another was passing out small red apples from one of the packs. Much to Anna's relief, there was no more of the stares or the whispering. The elves acknowledged their approach with a nod, or the occasional 'Lord Glorfindel' and 'milady', but kept the majority of their attention focused elsewhere. This held true even when Glorfindel sat down and Anna followed, tucking herself right up against the older elf's side so that she could hide behind his arm, should she feel the need to.

Surprisingly, the lack of attention and calming atmosphere around the fire served to relax her considerably. Anna listened with rapt attention to the story that an elf the others called Lannian was telling about attempting to teach his younger sister to shoot a bow and arrow, and even gave the elf who offered her one of the apples a shy smile, which he returned tenfold.

All in all, it was a pleasant way to spend an evening. Anna still refrained from speaking, still leery and shy and uncertain, but the stew that was given to her as her dinner was positively heavenly, and several times, she was forced to giggle as Athae made goofy faces at her from across the fire. Elves were wonderful story-tellers, and Anna eventually crawled back into Glorfindel's lap so she could have a better view of Lannian's face as he regaled them with stories of his numerous siblings. (It was a bit of a joke amongst the group that one couldn't go anywhere in Imladris without encountering a member of the blue-eyed elf's family.)

Maybe being an elf wouldn't be so bad.

She fell asleep right on Glorfindel's lap, and awoke bundled in his cloak once more as he shook her awake for breakfast.

The next day was a bit rougher than the first. Travelling on a horse, Anna mused, was much different than travelling via her own two feet, and not only because it was infinitely faster. When she was walking, she was never bored. There was always some newly discovered hill or valley to explore, flowers to admire, or dragonflies and butterflies to chase. A horse, however, moved too quickly to truly appreciate the landscape, and there were no stops for play or random diversions to chase and explore or to nap. It was jolting and uncomfortable and _boring_.

Anna dearly wanted to squirm and fidget, but she dared not do so. She rode with Glorfindel on his massive chestnut stallion, which he informed her was named Ondo, which translated to 'stone' in Quenya. Her too-big borrowed tunic wasn't ideal for riding, and she couldn't wrap her legs on either side of the horse's back while wearing it, so she largely depended on Glorfindel's firm grip from where he rode behind her to keep her seated atop the animal. She lacked the physical strength to ride properly anyways, and was jostled about horribly even with her angel holding her body still. It was a rather unpleasant experience for her, and it lasted all day, with only a brief, thirty-minute stop for lunch. Indeed, it wasn't until the sun dipped dangerously low against the tree line that Glorfindel called the riders to a halt. Anna was so exhausted that she drifted into her waking-sleep in the elf's lap before she'd even finished eating.

The day after that was much the same, although Anna was less tired by the end of it, and had taken to making little braids in Ondo's mane as they rode. It took considerable focus, and occupied her mind, distracting her from her discomfort. (Also, Anna thought that it made the horse look rather dashing.)

Riding all day also gave Anna time to think. She was sad about all she had lost: which was, essentially, everything. However, she couldn't deny that she'd also gained quite a bit as well. For better or for worse, Anna had a fresh start and a new life now, and she didn't want to spend it in mourning for something that she'd never get back. So as she clung to Ondo's mane, she made a list of all the things she would miss, and one by one said her silent goodbyes to them. It made her feel better.

She also got to know the elves a bit better through listening to their conversations during this time. Glorfindel, her angel, was the leader of the party. They all called him 'Lord', and Anna assumed that he was rather important. Athae was his second in command, and the one whom the others deferred to if Glorfindel was otherwise occupied. Pelior was Athae's young cousin –a shy little thing—who stuck closely to his relative, as this was his first patrol. Thandir, Elris, and Nimglin were the elves who did most of the hunting, with Minlas tagging along behind them. (Anna got the impression that the redheaded Minlas was a rather young elf, and he clearly admired the three, especially Thandir, very much.) Arnos, Bainor, and Eldandil were brothers, and were each very good with the sword, apparently. They liked to sing ridiculous little tavern songs in harmony, which Anna always listened to in fascination, much to their not-so-subtle delight. (Apparently, none of the other elves showed much appreciation for their antics, and Anna was a good, if silent, audience.) Lannian was still one of Anna's favorites, as he had a warm, cheerful presence about him. She was also fond of Argalad, who was the elf who had given her the apple her first night with the company. He rarely spoke, and Anna enjoyed spending time with someone who didn't expect her to speak, aside from Glorfindel.

Speaking of the golden-haired elf, Anna rarely left Glorfindel's side. She felt bad about the imposition, but couldn't help herself. Thankfully, he seemed to take her clingy behavior and skittishness towards the others well in stride. She made an effort to spend at least a little time apart from him each day, however. This usually meant that she wound up scooting up to one of the other elves –generally Argalad or Athae—and quietly observing whatever domestic task they happened to be doing for as long as she felt comfortable being away from her angel. Eldandil, who seemed to be the unofficial cook, even let her help slice green onions for the stew, on their second evening. (She wasn't given the knife, but wiped each root down with a damp cloth to get rid of any dirt and handed it to him.) Other than that however, wherever Glorfindel was –be it tending to Ondo, collecting firewood, cleaning his weapons, or helping one of the others with their tasks—Anna was never far behind. She was his personal dark-haired shadow. So much so, in fact, that for lack of anything else to call her besides 'little one', she was generally referred to by the older elves as Dae, or shadow. Glorfindel thought this was quite funny, and adopted the name just as the others did, though he still called her 'sweetling' if he thought that none of the others could hear. Anna thought that he was rather fond of her, just as she was fond of him.

Many times, Anna had been questioned as to her identity and circumstances, both by Glorfindel himself and by others. She never broke her silence, however, and to her eternal surprise and gratitude, after the first few initial refusals to respond, the subject was dropped. They were reluctant to push her, it seemed.

On the whole, Anna was becoming more comfortable with her situation, and she was even beginning to enjoy herself. Certainly, she missed regular showers (nature wasn't as clean as she'd thought when her main experiences with it mostly involved the television), indoor plumbing (tinkling in the woods was _no_ fun), and an overall lack of soreness (her ass was _killing_ her), but Anna was eating well, and had good company. The elves were all simply wonderful to her. Especially since she was just a strange little girl they'd pulled out of some rocks in the wilderness that refused to speak a word to them. (Though this didn't seem to stop her from having conversations, as it seemed that elves had an uncanny empathetic sense, and it was surprisingly easy to communicate through feeling.) There were many things that Anna missed from her old home, not the least of which was her adult body and the people she loved, but she tried not to think about it too much. Pining away for unreachable goals would only serve to make her miserable, and Anna knew enough to count the blessings that she _did_ have, not those that she lacked.

And so it was that, on the fifth day after she'd encountered Glorfindel and the others, Anna found herself rather disappointed when they stopped for their midday meal and did not mount again. It confused her. In the previous days, the lunch break had only been about thirty minutes long, and nothing aside from the food was unpacked. This time, however, it seemed that they were making camp to stay the night.

Carefully, Anna rose from her perch on a fallen tree branch and dashed over to where Glorfindel was listening to Bainor's summary of their food supplies, brushing the crumbs from her roll off of her lap as she went. At first, she'd constantly tripped over the trailing hem of her borrowed clothes, but now, she'd turned the avoidance of the excess material into a bit of an art. Once Bainor had finished talking, Anna reached up and gave the bottom of Glorfindel's tunic a little tug to capture his attention.

Obligingly, the elf Lord knelt down so that he was somewhat closer to her height, smiling warmly at her. "What is it, Dae?" he asked, tucking a strand of hair that had escaped her braid behind her pointed ear, carefully avoiding touching her piercings. (The elves, Glorfindel included, still cringed slightly at the sight of them, but Anna was learning to ignore the reaction. She wasn't about to remove her earrings just because _they_ were wimps.)

Anna pointed to where the horses had been picketed a little ways away in the trees and frowned questioningly.

"No, we will not be riding again this day," he confirmed with a light shake of his head. "There is a settlement of Men nearby, and you will stay here with the others while Elris, Nimglin, and I go there to acquire a few supplies that we are in need of. We will return before night falls, and the horses shall have a half-day's rest."

Anna blinked, and her vision began to swim as a wave of panic crashed down upon her quite unexpectedly. Logically, she knew that what Glorfindel intended to do was the Middle-Earth equivalent of running to the grocery store, and that she shouldn't be reacting so negatively, but she couldn't shake her fear. Anna really had become entirely too dependent on the elf, for which she internally scolded herself. The thought of his leaving –even if it was only for a few hours—made her tremble where she stood.

She didn't want Glorfindel to leave, but Anna knew that she couldn't ask him to stay. Anna had no claim on him. They were not relatives, nor were they even really friends. Glorfindel was, honestly, a stranger who was taking care of her out of the goodness of his heart, and she had no right to cling to him so and protest his leaving. Forcing herself into inaction, but still unable to move away, Anna simply stood before the older elf, wrestling with the tears that threatened to escape from her pale grey eyes.

Catching sight of these same tears, Glorfindel's expression became somewhat alarmed. "Sweetling, why do you cry?" he asked, cupping her face between his hands, visibly concerned.

_I cry because I've fallen from heaven and can never go home_, Anna wanted to tell him. She had found some measure of happiness over the past few days, and it pained her to know that things wouldn't be like this forever. The patrol of twelve –now thirteen—elves, was travelling. This implied a destination. Imladris. What would happen once they arrived? Most likely, Anna would be carted off to the nearest orphanage, and she'd never see the elves she'd come to be so fond of again. And that thought hurt. She'd tried her very best to ignore this fact, but now, with Glorfindel and Elris and Nimglin going off for the rest of the day, she couldn't ignore it anymore. Anna was Glorfindel's shadow _now_, but how long would that last?

No, she didn't want Glorfindel to leave. But he was going to anyways. Today, tomorrow, a week from this moment… Anna could hardly bear the thought. After losing everything else, she didn't want to lose her angel too: even if he wasn't hers to begin with at all.

"There is no cause for tears," Glorfindel wheedled, not oblivious to her obvious distress and appearing greatly lost as to what to do about it. He let go of her face and gripped her hands gently. "It is a simple errand. You will not even have time to miss us," he promised.

Anna's lower lip trembled, but she nodded. She couldn't place her strong emotional attachment to Glorfindel. He wasn't quite her friend, nor did he feel like an older brother, but she knew that the attachment wasn't romantic in nature either. (Indeed, though she remembered experiencing such feelings as an adult from before her death, she found herself quite incapable of feeling them in her current child's body, which was quite a relief really.) No, she couldn't pin down the nature of her emotions for the golden-haired elf. Still, Anna was absolutely certain that she would do anything Glorfindel asked of her. He had asked her to stop crying. She would obey him.

Glorfindel smiled at her, displaying a set of even, white teeth. (It was fascinating to Anna that all of the elves had excellent teeth, despite the fact that she assumed that they lacked modern dental care.) "See, sweetling?" he encouraged her, tapping her on the tip of her nose with one finger, making her scrunch her face at him. "It is not so bad. Athae will take care of you while we are away. Do try not to be _too_ good for him, though," he cautioned, dark grey eyes twinkling merrily. "He will grow soft if we cannot keep him sharp, aye?"

Despite herself, Anna giggled. Poor Athae was always the victim of teasing, especially from Glorfindel, who was the only other elf present that outranked him. It wasn't cruel teasing, but Athae was simply one of those personalities who seemed to invite playful ridicule. Anna herself had even taken part in it once, when Glorfindel had asked her to wake the silver-haired elf, and she had done so by snapping her fingers right by his ear, as he had done to her at their first meeting. The elf had jolted back to awareness spluttering and indignant, and Glorfindel had laughed so hard at the sight that Anna feared he might suffocate. Athae always took the teasing with good grace, and regularly gave out just as good as he got, as he had a surprisingly sharp tongue. It was one of the reasons that Anna liked him.

So it was that Anna wound up clutching tightly to Athae's hand as she silently watched Glorfindel set out west on foot, the two accompanying elves steadfast at his side. He waved at her cheerfully enough as he left, but Anna could see the concern in his eyes when he looked at her. Were she truly a child, and unfamiliar with adult emotion, she might have missed it. But she had been fully grown, once, and she knew the look of a concerned adult that was trying to put on a brave face when she saw it. And she saw it in Glorfindel. He worried for her, and she was simultaneously glad and embarrassed for it.

"Come along, Dae," Athae said to her as the three elves vanished between the trees, tugging gently on her hand and drawing her over to where Pelior was sitting, fletching arrows. "We could use your small hands."

For the better part of an hour, Anna was tasked with sorting through a bag of bird feathers, handing the ones suitable for arrow-making over to Pelior and casting the flawed, small, or weak ones out into the wind. After that, she once again cleaned vegetables for Eldandil. She was restless though. Nervous. The world seemed a lot larger and more frightening without Glorfindel's powerful, warm presence. Once she'd finished with Eldandil, the elf told her to go and play. But Anna didn't want to play.

Hell, she didn't know _how_ to.

Instead, she sat against the trunk of a tree and twisted a stick in between her hands, gazing broodingly up into the tree canopy, bored. This lack of activity disturbed the elves in the camp. She could tell by the uncertain glances that they threw at her, and then each other, though they thought they were being discreet. It made Anna smile wryly to herself. True, she felt the urge to run and play like the child she looked like, but Anna didn't feel comfortable doing so in front of them at the moment. She hadn't done anything of the sort in years, and she was too ill at ease at the moment to play anyways. She must look to be such an unnatural child! But Anna wouldn't pretend that she was anything less than that. It would be lying. She was a terrible liar.

After a while, Argalad came and sat with her, which Anna appreciated, and acknowledged with a shy smile. She took to pulling up blades of grass in her boredom, and doing her best to weave them into a basket. The result was small, sad, and droopy, and she shredded it upon completion. She was served her evening meal, and ate it slowly. Time crawled by, and the camp was eerily silent, those who spoke doing so in hushed tones.

It seemed to Anna that Glorfindel didn't return for a long, long time. She was about as patient as she was brave –which was not at all—so the wait grated upon her already frayed nerves. By the time he and Nimglin and Elris strode back into the camp with the setting sun, calling out greetings to Minlas, who was on watch, Anna was so relieved that she wished that she could run up to him, glomp onto his legs (the only part of him she could reach) and never let go. This, however, wasn't quite socially acceptable, so she remained where she was sitting with Argalad at the base of the tree. With focused eyes, she watched the trio of elves stack the filled sacks they had returned with, chattering to the others about the human village. Apparently, the villagers were recovering from a rather harsh winter, and the atmosphere had been rather tired. Still, the elves had been received pleasantly enough, and they'd managed to purchase everything they needed.

As if he felt the weight of Anna's stare, Glorfindel extracted himself from the conversation and turned to look at her. His expression was carefully neutral, at first, but upon watching the girl-turned-elfling clamber to her feet and smile brilliantly at him, his noble features split with a grin and he knelt, beckoning her closer.

Anna wasn't about to argue with the invitation. Obligingly, she rushed over to him as fast as her little legs could carry her and threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug. Her own brashness surprised her –and Glorfindel too, if his sudden stiffness was anything to go by—but Anna couldn't bring herself to feel the slightest bit of remorse for her sudden display of affection. She supposed that remorse wasn't really necessary though, because Glorfindel returned the gesture as soon as he had recovered from his shock, enveloping her in the pleasant sort of warmth that only hugs can induce. Anna could feel him smiling into her hair as he squeezed her gently.

"And what have I done to deserve such a greeting from the Lady Dae?" he questioned teasingly, pulling away from her slightly and holding her by the shoulders so that he could see her face. His eyes glittered playfully, and Anna relaxed upon meeting them. She could feel the familiar hum of power that was Glorfindel again, and it made her feel safe.

In answer to his question, Anna could only smile widely at him. She was happy he was back, and for once, she didn't feel like her lack of speaking hindered her expression of the words in her heart.

"I have something for you," he told her with a wink. "Would you like to see?"

Blinking, Anna poked herself on the chest and gave the elf the universal expression for a confused _'Who, me?'_

Glorfindel shook his head amusedly at her and turned to rummage in the pack he'd taken with him, leaving Anna to stand there, feeling a bit awkward. All of the other elves, save Minlas (who was still on watch) and the brothers Bainor and Arnos (who were bickering quite heatedly over the quality of Pelior's arrows) were _staring_. They hadn't stared at her like this since Glorfindel had first carried her into camp with her ears exposed, and it made Anna just as uncomfortable now as it did then, despite the fact that most of them were sporting poorly concealed grins this time around, as opposed to expressions of shock. She didn't see what was so funny.

"Here!" Glorfindel exclaimed, drawing her attention back to him. He held a small bundle of rough-looking clothes in his hands, topped with a tiny set of leather boots. "I was unable to purchase riding garments befitting a young elleth of your size," he relayed apologetically, "but it should be only a few more days until we reach Imladris, and though these were intended for a male child, they should fit well and will offer you comfort. You will be able to sit astride Ondo, and walk without fear of injury to your feet."

He placed the bundle by Anna's feet, but she made no move to retrieve it as she gazed up at him, lips parted in surprise and wonder at this latest unexpected development. Still, it seemed he was not done, and next produced a smaller object that she could not see clearly, partially concealed as it was in Glorfindel's hands. The elf himself seemed faintly embarrassed now, his posture and expression unchanging but his eyes revealing his insecurity.

"There is also this," he said quietly, pressing the object into her hands. It was soft, whatever it was, but Anna dared not avert her focus from the elf kneeling before her to look at it. "It is not much," Glorfindel continued, "but I thought that perhaps you might appreciate something to play with."

There was that word again. Play. Frowning with a mixture of regret and bewilderment, Anna looked down at her gift and gasped. Glorfindel had given her a doll. It was beautiful work, even in its simplicity. Its body was made with rough cream-colored cloth, stuffed with what felt like scrap material and grass. Its face was blank save for two black button eyes, and its hair was brown yarn neatly tied back with a bit of blue ribbon that matched its tiny blue dress and slippers. Anna was simultaneously enchanted, nostalgic, afraid, and greatly touched that Glorfindel would give her such a beautiful thing simply because he thought she would enjoy it.

Despite her best efforts, a few tears of emotion trickled down Anna's baby-round cheeks.

"If you do not care for it, you are not obligated to play with it, sweetling," Glorfindel spluttered, a spark of panic flickering over his face.

Reflexively, Anna clutched the doll tightly to her chest. It was a motion that was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. She'd done the same thing countless times as a little girl, after all. But until quite recently, she hadn't been a little girl anymore.

She took a steadying breath and looked Glorfindel directly in the eyes. "Anna," she whispered aloud. "My name is Anna."

* * *

_A/N: So that's that. (If you haven't figured it out by now, Anna's kind of a scaredy-cat. So three cheers for Anna, for making an attempt at growing a spine!)_


	6. 5: River

_A/N: Thanks to _Tigre Blanca, haha21, Mellon, Guest, Guest _(mark two)_, LittleNK, Of-Light-and-Shadow, Nellas Anwarunya, Hinata'sMuse, EverleighBain, MissKim2b, Alecta, Trich, Furionknight, mandiecandie, Qeani, Filiafamilias, KrystylSky, amaris12345, Claribel21, _and _Gerbilfriend.

_Some of you have been waiting a long time for this, and the time has arrived. So now, I give you Imladris! Read on, my pretties!_

* * *

An Angel's Heaven: Chapter Five  
River

* * *

Until she had stopped using words to express herself, Anna had never realized just how much could be conveyed nonverbally. A quirk of an eyebrow, a tilt of the head, a twist of the lips, a shift of stance; all of these things and more spoke just as loudly as words could, if one used their eyes and heart to listen. It was a revelation that Anna hadn't been expecting, but it was one she appreciated, especially considering that it renewed her appreciation for the power of the words that she suddenly realized that she didn't need. The power of words, Anna decided, lay not in the communication of the things that her body could say for her, but in the conveyance of ideas and concepts that could only be described in an abstract sense. There was no posture to indicate such things as spirit, or morality. So while words weren't needed for most things, some things existed only because words allowed them to. That was what set the men above the beasts, as it were.

That being said, it felt absolutely wonderful for Anna to say something so simple as her name out loud, now that she truly understood the value of speaking. For a moment, she simply stood there, slightly stunned at herself, gazing up at Glorfindel, who seemed just as surprised. Then, a huge smile stole its way across her face, and Anna was beaming.

As newly adorable as she currently was in her child's body, Anna wasn't at all surprised that her angel returned the expression in full force.

"Well met, Anna," he greeted her softly. "My name is Glorfindel."

Suddenly feeling quite shy, Anna peeked up at Glorfindel's face through her eyelashes as she scuffed her bare foot in the dirt. "It's nice to meet you, Glorfindel," she said in her best polite voice. She wasn't quite certain how elflings were expected to behave, but she supposed that she couldn't go wrong with courtesy.

Glorfindel's grin approached Cheshire status. Carefully, he lifted the clothes he'd brought her and stood. "Come, Anna," he instructed. "Let us garb you properly."

Obediently, Anna followed.

It wasn't long after Anna had donned her new outfit (some too-wide legging-pants, a pair of tiny leather riding boots, a roughly textured brown tunic, and a simple leather belt) that the questions started. Not that she expected any differently. Normally, Anna would take her meals in the circle of elves around the cooking fire. In light of her new willingness to speak, however, Glorfindel grabbed her bowl and led her a little ways away from the others to eat. They moved in silence at first, and ate in silence too, but while she remained outwardly unperturbed, Anna was enjoying a healthy dose of inward panic. She didn't quite know what to tell Glorfindel, and it made her anxious.

Finally, once they'd finished eating, Glorfindel began to speak. "Do you think that you are ready to answer some questions for me, sweetling?" he asked, carefully placing their bowls off to one side and fixing the girl in a steady gray gaze. He was seated directly across from her on the bare earth.

Nervously, Anna fidgeted with the doll she still carried with her, smoothing the creases in its blue dress. She didn't dare meet Glorfindel's eyes, but she nodded anyways.

The older elf sighed and lifted her chin with two fingers, angling her face towards him. Anna flinched a bit at the contact, but acquiesced to it. Glorfindel was the only elf she usually allowed to touch her. "Why is it that you are filled with such fear?" he inquired, appearing faintly hurt. "None here shall harm you. No elf would dare harm an elfling."

Anna scowled. "I know that's not true," she said crisply, momentarily angered. She herself wouldn't _be_ here if elves were unwilling to harm their children.

But Anna felt badly for her words as soon as they escaped her lips and crushed the smile from Glorfindel's handsome face. Glorfindel –her angel—had been nothing but extraordinarily kind to her from the moment he pulled her from her hiding place in the rocks all those days ago, and she was very fond of him. He was a good elf, and from what she could tell, the others were too. It hurt to see her savior recoil at her words like she had slapped him. He didn't deserve such treatment from her. The pain of ancient memory welled in his eyes, and Anna was once again reminded of the immortality of her new species. In that moment, Glorfindel seemed unfathomably _old_, with all the hurts that accompanied all of the years gone by. Anna had little doubt that he understood very clearly her implication of the Kinslayings. He and the rest of the group were primarily Noldor, after all. At least, so far as Anna could tell. She wasn't an expert.

"That which you speak of…" Glorfindel began in a strained tone, his eyes still haunted with memory, "… took place in an age long past." His lips were pressed together in a thin, angry line, and he looked away from her quite deliberately, no doubt in an attempt to hide his reaction from her.

Anna wanted to cry. Her childlike emotions and urges were spinning out of control. She wanted to scream and kick and demand Glorfindel leave her alone, but at the same time, she wanted to trap him in a hug and never let him go. Instead, she clutched her doll tighter and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Clearly surprised, Glorfindel's eyes snapped back to her face.

Anna didn't give him a chance to speak though, and blurted, "I know that you wouldn't hurt me. I know I'm safe. But I was –am—afraid and lonely and confused and… and…" She burst into tears. "I've never even met an elf before!" she wailed.

Glorfindel seemed confused, though he did not fail to scoop her up from her seat on the ground before him and deposit her into his lap facing sideways, which Anna was grateful for. Her unruly body seemed to relax instinctually at the proximity, and her tears dried nearly as quickly as they'd come.

"That is not true," he said mildly. "_You_ are an elf. Your parents were elves. Therefore, you have seen an elf."

Anna shook her head vigorously. "My parents were not elves," she insisted stubbornly, without thinking. "And _I_ don't count. I had never seen an elf before I saw you."

Glorfindel looked down at her sharply. "You were raised by Men?"

Hesitantly, Anna nodded, cursing herself for the slip. Still, she rationalized, at least this way she wouldn't be expected to know the specifics of elven culture.

"Yet you speak not in the tongue of Men, but in Sindarin," he pointed out.

At this, Anna could only shrug. She wasn't about to explain that she'd had her brain's language centers scrambled by a deity. She merely leaned into Glorfindel's chest, settling more comfortably for the interrogation she knew was to come.

Glorfindel, for his part, appeared somewhat skeptical of her announcement, but didn't push the issue. "Where is your home?" he asked instead.

Anna remembered this question from earlier. She didn't like it. She thought she'd done fairly well in coping with her new environment, but the words poured salt on the open wounds left by everything she had lost. Still, Anna supposed that she owed her angel an explanation. She'd flinched visibly at the reminder, and if Anna had learned anything about elves during her days travelling with Glorfindel's patrol, it was that each and every one of them had an insatiable curiosity, despite their best efforts to curb it. "My home is far, far away from here," she whispered gloomily. "But I can never return. My home is gone now… along with everyone in it. And I am alone."

Much to Anna's frustration, her enhanced vision once _again_ began swimming with traitorous tears that soon ran down her cheeks unimpeded. She hadn't been so weepy since her first period, but no matter how loudly her mind was telling her that only babies cry, her body didn't seem to want to obey and cease the action.

Anna was very glad that Glorfindel wasn't too upset with her. As a reaction to her distress, he wound his big arms around her little body and cuddled her closely, and the increased contact made her feel infinitely better. Anna had never been a touchy sort of person, and neither had her parents. She lacked other family, so it was a rare thing that she enjoyed platonic physical contact with another person. Much to her surprise and slight indignance, the elfling found that she now enjoyed and even craved such touch, and her 'outer child' was relaxed into complete bliss with Glorfindel's actions. For her pride's sake though, Anna was glad that the pair of them were far enough away from the main camp that none of the others had them in their direct line of sight.

"I am sorry, sweetling," the older elf sighed as he rested his chin on the top of her head. His beautiful golden hair fell in a gleaming sheet close to her face, and a few stray strands tickled Anna's nose. "I did not intend to make you unhappy."

Anna simply tucked herself more securely into Glorfindel's hold, finally opting to fully relinquish control for the first time since arriving in Arda and allowing herself to behave like the child that she technically was. "I understand," she responded with a small sniffle. And really, she did. The elf was only behaving as any responsible adult would, and she forgave him his questions and curiosity. In his position, she would have done the same, albeit far less patiently.

Then, the thought that had been plaguing her for quite some time drifted to the forefront of her mind. Previously, Anna had lacked the courage to address this concern. But now she wanted to know. Biting her lip, she hesitantly spoke up. "Glorfindel?" she said timidly.

"Yes?" came the gentle response. Glorfindel didn't shift an inch, and Anna felt a warmth bloom in her chest when his comforting presence remained unchanged.

She took a breath. "When we arrive at Imladris… what will happen to me?" Her voice sounded as small as she felt. Glorfindel's subsequent silence was no way comforting. Anna couldn't see his face, and so had no way of knowing what he was thinking. (Not that this usually helped. Elves, Anna had found, were masters of self-control. Their poker faces would leave Vegas in absolute shambles.) "I… I am frightened," she admitted, tears threatening to make a third appearance.

And frightened she was. Anna didn't know what to think, or how to feel. She was lost. She was nothing more than a strange amalgamation of a young human that worked too hard and a small elfling that was cast adrift in a strange world that was proving far too big for her to understand. She had lost and gained so much that Anna didn't truly know if she was Anna anymore. Really, the only thing _did_ know was that at that very moment, the terror that she'd been warding off for days was closing in on her like walls close in on the claustrophobic, and that the only thing she felt could keep her safe was the strange and comforting waves of power that always seemed to ensconce her in a gentle embrace whenever her angel was near. Glorfindel was the anchor holding her down, and it felt like she would float away into infinity should he ever let her go. She'd never before realized just how much of her identity that she'd invested in where she was, and what she did. Her second life was a mixed blessing in that –quite literally—Anna had been granted a completely fresh start, but in such a way that left her reeling in the aftermath of having the rug of her identity pulled out from beneath her feet.

In short: dying? Anna didn't recommend it. It messed you the hell up.

"I cannot say with any certainty what will happen, exactly," Glorfindel eventually ceded in a voice textured like caramel. "Elflings are a rare thing. News of you will most definitely be rather startling, but there will be no shortage of elves that would be willing to provide you with a loving home. This leaves only the decision of with whom to place you. Have you any family amongst the elves of Imladris, Anna?"

Anna frowned slightly. "I… cannot say," she admitted. "My family separated from the other elves… a very long time ago." She paused. "What is the year?"

"Year 394 of the Third Age," came the immediate and puzzled response.

Anna blanched. She had no idea how long an age lasted, but since the creepy baseless knowledge in her head told her that her forefathers, Eluréd and Elurín, had left Arda for Terra in the year 506 of the _First_ Age, she could only assume that many, _many_ years had passed. (Emphasis on the 'many'.) "A very long time ago," she confirmed. "I have never encountered any living family, and if they exist, they know nothing of me."

Glorfindel squeezed her briefly. "You shall be well cared for in Imladris, be it by blood family or otherwise. This I vow, little one," he promised.

And Anna believed him.

It was another three days before they finally reached Imladris. The travel in the interim was much the same as it had been previously, with a few notable differences. For one, Anna was now dressed somewhat appropriately, with her riding boots and leggings and tunic and belt. She was much more comfortable in consequence, which vastly improved her mood. Smiles and laughter came much easier to her, now. Secondly, of course, was Anna's new willingness to speak. To be honest, it didn't affect her relationships with the others much. She still rarely spoke unless spoken to, still suffering from shyness, but they didn't seem to mind much. Argalad especially was indifferent to the development, though Anna found an unexpected friend in young Pelior now that there was no communication barrier. She asked him all sorts of questions about the menial tasks that Athae seemed to take great pleasure in assigning him, and she found in the silver-haired elf a sort of kindred spirit. He too didn't speak much. He spoke to _her_, though, and Anna thought it only fair that she speak back. The only person she spoke to on a more regular basis than Pelior was Glorfindel, whom she still stuck to so closely that she was still addressed as Dae more often than not.

Anna didn't mind. She was still anxious about her future, as it was still in flux, but she had faith that Glorfindel would make sure she was given a good home. He looked after her admirably, after all, and by this time, Anna knew that the elf was as good as his word. The others hadn't promised her anything, but Anna knew that they liked her, and that they would do their best for her as well. This knowledge left her feeling warm.

The first view that Anna had of Imladris was startling. She was focusing rather hard on braiding Ondo's mane as they rode (She'd nothing to tie the braids off with, and the horse was rather fond of shaking his neck to pull them loose.) and so was quite surprised when Glorfindel said from behind her, "Look up, Anna."

Without thinking, the girl-turned-elfling obeyed. Upon processing the sight that lay before her, she nearly toppled off the horse. The group had just rounded the top of a hill, and was now in perfect position to look down upon a valley.

And what a valley it was! Anna was a city girl. She'd lived all her life in one big city or another, so she wasn't truly impressed with the scale of the dwellings she saw before her. However, she _was_ impressed with the fact that no man-made structure could ever dream of approaching how incredibly aesthetically pleasing each and every building in the elven city was. The cities that Anna was familiar with were designed with profit and functionality in mind, and were for the most part a farrago of different ideas and needs and times all smashed closely together into a semi-cohesive unit. Beautiful in their own way, to be sure, but the elven city she saw now was clearly designed to be nothing short of perfect. Imladris was like a river. Indeed, small waterways wandered throughout its entirety like silver ribbon strewn carelessly across a seamstress' workroom floor. The buildings were all hewn of pale stone and flowed through the valley like water, tumbling down hillsides and pooling in the lower points, and were shaped in such ways with their graceful arches and smooth lines that they seemed in constant motion, even when standing unmovable and still. Green was everywhere, radiating from the elf-made constructions like ripples, and it seemed to Anna that the natural world embraced the presence of her ethereal new species with love and joy. The trees and their thoughts had grown more and more jubilant and peaceful as the group had neared Imladris, and now that they had arrived, the very air in the valley seemed to sing.

The elves sang too, as they directed the horses down the narrow path and into the city proper. They sang a song of homecoming and the renunciation of family in cheerful snippets, and Anna could only gawp at her surroundings and clutch at her doll (which she had named Alice). Behind her, Glorfindel chuckled. "What think you of Imladris, Lady Dae?" he queried, moving to hold Ondo's reins with one hand so that the other was free to make a broad, sweeping gesture to indicate the ever-nearing city.

"It is the most beautiful place that I have ever seen," she confessed quietly. "Do you really live here?"

"Indeed," her angel confirmed, before pointing at what Anna could see was easily the largest building there. It was a four-story mansion-like structure that seemed to be a place of some importance, judging not only by its large scale but its air of unquestionable regality. "That is the house of Elrond, Lord of Imladris," he informed her. "It is there where I make my home."

Anna tilted her head back to stare at the golden-haired elf, pale eyes popping. For Glorfindel to live in such a place, she realized, he must be an elf of some significance. This didn't change her opinion of him, of course. (After all, Anna herself was the daughter of princes, and she was still her own unremarkable self.) It did, however, worry her some. If Glorfindel was a terribly important elf, would he have the time –or even the inclination—to ever visit her again? She hoped so fervently. It was difficult enough thinking on the looming separation without making said separation permanent. The remainder of the ride Anna spent in silence, drinking in her first sights of Imladris and the elves that lived there.

Imladris was a city of angels. Anna supposed that she should have become acclimated to the ethereal beauty of elves during her time with Glorfindel, Athae, and the others, but she was still overwhelmed all the same. Elves were all around her, and they were _beautiful_. They passed a few guards as they came closer to the city, who called out greetings to Glorfindel in windchime voices. The streets of the city proper were peppered with elves going about their daily business, and they all called out greetings as well, or stopped and bowed in lieu of this. Like those in the traveling party, the elves that Anna saw were vastly of Noldor descent. They were tall and brunette, for the most part, with dark grey or hazel eyes and laughing faces. There were other elven races represented of course –most notably several obvious Sindar—but Anna was in no mood to look too closely, nor did she really care. This was the first time that she had encountered any female elves (_Ellith,_ she reminded herself.) aside from herself, and she was utterly enchanted. If Anna had mistaken elven men for angels, the women were surely goddesses themselves! The ellith held all of the bewitching fairness that the ellyn did, but they were beautiful in delicate and graceful ways that the men of their species were not. It was difficult for the elfling to process, to be sure, and the result of this was that she found herself staring unabashedly.

This was forgiven (in the event that it was even noticed, which it generally was not) due to the dually fortunate and unfortunate way in which this action was returned. Glorfindel had instructed her to leave her hair loose from its customary french braid before they had even left camp that morning. Anna had obeyed this request without question at the time, but now understood its purpose. With her nearly-raven hair tumbling loose about her shoulders, Anna's pointed ears (and subsequent sparkly –though apparently disturbing—accessories) were hidden from the many eyes that fell upon her. (There was little that could be done to hide her nose piercing, but it wasn't very big, and hopefully went unnoticed.) Anna was the subject of many curious whispers as the group proceeded towards what Anna tentatively identified as the stables. It definitely wasn't the most pleasant experience for someone who disliked attention as much as she did, and Anna found herself very thankful for her angel's foresight in this matter. From experience, Anna knew that she would be assumed to be a human child until proven elfling (Glorfindel told her that this was because elflings were very rare, and that even elves did not see what was right in front of them if they were not looking to see it.) and that the stares and whispers would only get worse once this fact was revealed.

With a resounding burst of clatters, the group of twelve noble horses entered into a very large cobbled courtyard very near the low-lying stables. As a group, the elves dismounted soundlessly and were immediately assisted in removing their travelling gear from the animals by other elves who ran from within the stables. Anna, after having been carefully lifted from Ondo's back and placed on her admittedly wobbly feet, stood off to one side and out of the way, as she'd been instructed to do every time the elves in her group set about such a task. She stayed near enough so that Glorfindel could see her but far enough that she wasn't accidentally kicked by a careless elf or worse, a spooked horse. With wide eyes and nervous hands that constantly fidgeted with Alice's little blue dress, Anna observed the controlled chaos. She felt _highly_ uncomfortable. What was she to do? The situation was one that was completely unfamiliar to her, mostly due to the foreign setting and people, and she didn't like it.

What was worse was that one of the stable hands had obviously noted her presence, and approached her with what Anna assumed was meant to be a reassuring smile but was, in reality, anything but. Somewhat terrified of this stranger, Anna clutched at the tiny pocketknife that she still kept safely tucked into her belt and took a few quick steps back, her neck straining to angle her head properly to see the tall ellon's face. The elf halted his motions immediately, looking somewhat offended, and held up his hands in a placating motion.

"Anna!" someone called from behind her. The girl nearly melted in relief. The silver-haired Athae jogged over quickly, and she lost no time in darting behind the older elf's legs in an effort to hide from all the strangers –specifically the one who had tried to walk up to her. Clearly somewhat exasperated, Athae shook his head at her, but offered a comforting hand to stroke her hair anyways.

"She is a rather skittish child," Athae offered to the other elf. "Take not her actions to heart, my friend."

The ellon nodded slowly, a frown marring his cherubic (like all of his kin) features, before turning away and busying himself with seeing that the returning elves were unpacked quickly. Wordlessly, Athae snatched up Anna's hand and led her over to where Pelior was standing, fiddling with his longbow. This was really the first time that Anna had allowed such physical contact between herself and an elf that wasn't Glorfindel, but the elfling found that it wasn't so bad. Awkward, maybe, considering the differences in their height and the fact that Anna's hand was itself scarcely larger than Athae's palm, but not unpleasant. She followed without protest.

Young Pelior knelt before her as Athae halted and dropped her hand. The younger of the cousins took it up in his own hands as soon as he had done so and squeezed it softly. "This is not goodbye, Dae," he told her with a sad sort of smile. "This is merely me wishing you all happiness until we meet again, and I think that our paths will cross sooner than you think."

Immediately, Anna began fighting with the tears that threatened to break free. She _liked_ Pelior. She did not wish for him to go. Unfortunately for Anna, logic told her that Pelior had a life outside of an armed patrol: one that he must return to. He lived somewhere in this beautiful city, with his doting parents and beautiful older sister, and they undoubtedly missed him very much. More than Anna would miss him, anyways. "Will you come to visit me?" she almost begged.

The elf smiled. "If that is what you wish," he promised.

Anna nodded vigorously. "I wish that!" she said hastily.

"Then I shall," Pelior answered simply, before leaning forwards and planting a chaste kiss on her forehead and standing, dropping her hand. "Until we meet again, Lady Dae."

With that, he shouldered his pack of personal possessions and strode off along a well-worn path that led deeper into the city. Athae, after offering her a similar promise and affectionate embrace, followed suit. Anna assumed that, as cousins, the pair lived somewhat close together. Anna had little time to dwell on her somewhat irrational feelings of abandonment, however, as she was soon distracted by the other elves that she had traveled with over the long days. The three brothers –Arnos, Bainor, and Eldandil—came to her first, all expressing their joy at having met her and their wish that she make a happy life here in Imladris. They even extended an invitation for Anna to enjoy an evening meal with their family, as apparently their mother adored elflings and was sure to cook many delicious desserts for Anna to enjoy. Each kissed the back of her hand before they took their leave, like true gentlemen, causing Anna to go pink. The others followed in the order of Thandir, Elris, Nimglin, Minlas, Argalad, and Lannian. All expressed similar sentiments, and either embraced her or kissed her hand upon their departure, depending upon how closely acquainted they were with her.

It was a bittersweet thing for Anna to bear witness to. Knowing that the elves thought well of her was a good feeling, but Anna also knew that she would miss them. She truly hoped that each kept to their word and would visit her in her new home, wherever that might be. She watched the last of her well-wishers –Lannian—retreat down his chosen path with a trembling lip and eyes that were suspiciously bright, but she did not cry. So distracted was she with this determination, in fact, that she didn't notice that the courtyard had emptied of elves and horses, and she was caught unawares when Glorfindel approached. She jumped violently when he placed an affectionate hand on the top of her head.

"You are being very brave, sweetling," he praised her, his expression curiously neutral.

Averting her eyes to her feet and staring at them fixedly, Anna shook her head in the negative and held Alice tightly to her chest. "I am not being brave," she admitted. "I am still afraid."

"Ai!" Glorfindel exclaimed, causing Anna to look at him sharply, mouth popped open in an 'O' shape. "If courage is defined as the lack of fear, then I must be a coward!"

Anna tilted her head to one side in confusion, much like a befuddled puppy. Glorfindel was very brave, she thought. He rode Ondo, a massive horse, with confidence and ease, and to hear the others speak, he was also a peerless fighter. She was quite sure that her angel was anything but a coward.

Said not-a-coward grinned at her. "I will tell you a secret, Anna," he said lowly, bending to speak in her ear. "All of us have fear. Fear makes us living beings, but what we choose to _do_ with that same fear is what makes us warriors. Bravery is not the lack of fear, but the ability to overcome it. Remember that."

Anna smiled up at him. Somehow, Glorfindel always knew what to say to make everything better. Maybe that was a childish notion, but at this point, Anna didn't think that she'd be reunited with her adult body anytime soon, and ergo didn't object to being childish from time to time. "Thank you, Glorfindel," she said sincerely. "For everything."

The elf's dark grey eyes widened fractionally, clearly somewhat taken aback by this response. "It was my pleasure," he admitted with equal sincerity. "Come. There is someone that I wish for you to meet."

* * *

_A/N: And there you have it, folks. Up next, Elrond and crew!_


	7. 6: Snow Queen

_A/N: I'm so, so grateful to the overwhelming positive response I've gotten to this story! My eternal thanks to _Tigre Blanca, alexma, mandiecandie, Guest, Rigel100, Mellon, LittleNK, KrystylSky, Gerbilfriend, Karolyne, Hinata'sMuse, Uecaeli, Vivian Wilder, Trich, amaris12345, Kombishiva, Caitydubbelyew, haha21, Qeani, StrawberryObsession _(love the name, by the way), _Alecta, Raider-K, AppleMay, guest, Alice, Claribel21, _and _Hannah.

_I think you all will like this chapter. I know I had a good time with it, that's for sure. First impressions are always the most important, don't you think?_

_Also, any excerpts from _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ belong to Lewis Carroll, and not myself. But without further blabbing, I present to you: chapter six!_

* * *

An Angel's Heaven: Chapter Six  
Snow Queen

* * *

The House of Elrond, in which Glorfindel made his home, was a beautiful place. More than that, it was tranquil, like the surface of a pond left unkissed by the wind and which mirrored moonlight as an unbroken circle that was smooth and clear as glass. Anna had ample time to admire the flowing architecture, as her little legs simply couldn't keep pace with Glorfindel's great strides (especially when he was in a hurry) and the golden-haired elf had opted to carry her as opposed to slowing enough for her to catch up. He'd done so before they'd even left the cobbled courtyard, swinging her tiny body up into his arms like a rag doll and settling her securely on one hip without so much as batting an eye. At first, Anna felt rightfully discombobulated with the unexpected manhandling, and drastic change in height (Even for an elf, Glorfindel was _tall_.) and balance point, but after steadying herself by clutching tightly to her new transport's tunic with her available hand, she found that this arrangement afforded her a welcome opportunity to observe her surroundings without fear of tripping over her own feet.

As he walked, Glorfindel took to regaling her with little anecdotes regarding the landmarks that they passed, oblivious to the openly shocked stares he was receiving from the few elves they passed by. A garden here –where the twin sons of Elrond had once been fond of playing in with their younger sister—and a balcony there –where Glorfindel claimed to frequent with someone called Erestor, to have tea. It was a little overwhelming. Anna didn't delude herself into thinking that she'd remember even half of the things that Glorfindel was telling her, but she found her angel's voice soothing, despite the fact that he actually seemed a little nervous. Not overtly, of course, but Anna was rather under the impression that the elf, with his constant stream of words, was _babbling_. The arm that he'd looped securely about her waist held her tightly and with confidence, though, so Anna wasn't too worried.

After an indeterminate stretch of time, Glorfindel halted in front of two ornate doors, carved with the likeness of willow trees, and looked down at her face, which was about even with his shoulders. Expectantly and somewhat anxiously, Anna returned his stare with wide silver-gray eyes.

"Who did you want me to meet?" she asked, speaking for the first time since they'd left the courtyard.

"I wish for you to meet my friend, Lord Elrond," Glorfindel answered, a slight furrow between his brows as he considered her. For the life of her, Anna could not fathom what he was looking for in her face, or even if he found it. "This is his study. As the Lord of Imladris, he will want a say in the future of its newest citizen."

Immediately, Anna's stomach twisted with nerves, and she tightened her grip on her doll. The action made her feel inexplicably better, but not enough so that she wasn't painfully aware of the fact that she was about to meet the man who could literally make or break her entire life from this point forwards. Glorfindel seemed very loyal to this Elrond, and if Elrond decided that Anna should be chopped into little bitty pieces and made into a meat pie like in Sweeny Todd… well, she didn't want to think about it.

As if sensing the rather morbid direction in which her thoughts were racing, Glorfindel was quick to reassure her. "Lord Elrond is an exceptionally kind ellon," he informed her with a small smile, cupping her face with an affectionate hand. "I think you will greatly enjoy his company."

Anna swallowed and nodded her comprehension, scolding herself for being silly. Glorfindel wouldn't say these things if Elrond was prone to making lost children into meat pies. If her angel told her that Lord Elrond was a good elf, Anna would believe him until proven otherwise.

Seemingly satisfied with Anna's acceptance of his words, Glorfindel knocked sharply on the carved door.

"Enter," bid a distracted voice.

And Glorfindel did so, giving Anna her first view of the Lord of Imladris.

Anna's first impression of Lord Elrond was that this elf was equal parts powerful and thoughtful. So far as combinations went, Anna deemed this to be a good one. After all: those who are thoughtful without power have no ability to effect change, and those who are powerful without thought effect too much. The Lord of Imladris was special because he was both. Anna knew this within moments after her gaze first rested on him, though she could not say how this knowledge came to be. Indeed, she felt a strange sort of kinship to the elf, and not simply because they were oddly alike in coloring. For lack of a more accurate turn of phrase, Anna sensed that the two of them were kindred spirits. Considering that the ellon was a powerful Lord of a beautiful city, the elfling thought herself rather presumptuous for feeling so, but emotions are as forceful and untamable as the ocean's tides, and the knowledge was stamped into her heart in the span of an instant, before the other elf had even raised his head from where it was bent over a parchment.

The moment was shattered when the elf looked up to greet his visitor, only to spot Glorfindel standing in the doorway with his arms full of an elfling. Lord Elrond blinked once, stunned, before standing quite abruptly. This gave Anna –who by now had forgotten her nervousness as if it had never existed—the opportunity to get a proper look at him. Much to her shock, when she looked at Lord Elrond, she saw much of herself. Most obviously, their coloring was nearly identical. Granted that most elves shared the same pale pearly sheen to their skin, but Anna had not once seen another elf with hair as dark as hers, even amongst all of the brunettes that were out and about the city as she and Glorfindel had ridden in. Yet Elrond's locks, which fell neatly between his shoulder blades, were the same near-black as hers. Their eyes, too, were similar. A light, silvery gray that was more indicative of Sindar ancestry than Noldor. More striking than this, however, were the shared facial features. At first glance, Anna and Elrond looked little alike in this regard, but upon closer inspection, it could be seen that their dimples were identically placed, and the atypical almond shape of their eyes (as opposed to the more customary oval) was the same.

It was an unsettling development, and Anna didn't quite know what to make of it.

"Glorfindel, my friend!" Lord Elrond exclaimed as he stood. "You were nearing upon two days overdue, and I feared what had befallen you. The answer though, I feel, lies in your arms. Who is this young Lady?"

"Fear not, for your Seneschal has returned to you with nary a scratch, my friend," Glorfindel replied, a smile in his voice. "The cause for our delay is indeed my companion here. Lord Elrond, allow me to introduce you to Anna, who has accompanied our patrol for many days."

The elf Lord looked upon her with interest, and Anna fought the urge to cower into Glorfindel's chest, instead choosing to study his movements and visage carefully. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance, young Anna," he greeted her kindly.

"I am pleased to meet you as well," Anna forced out timidly, proud of herself for not stuttering in Lord Elrond's formidable presence. It wasn't that the Lord was physically imposing. Indeed, he was a good two inches shorter than her angel, and his expression was soft. The intimidating factor lay in the power that radiated from him like heat from an asphalt road. Though Glorfindel too shared this characteristic unique from other elves, it was different. Glorfindel emitted a warm energy. It felt… golden like his hair, or like a kiss of springtime sunlight –a steady heat. With Elrond, it seemed to Anna that he was the center of a maelstrom of wild energy that extended all about him in sharp gusts, like an autumn wind. It wasn't a threatening feeling, but it served to remind her that this elf was more than he outwardly seemed. He was in charge for a reason.

Lord Elrond's sharp eyes wandered back to Glorfindel's face. "You have much to tell me," he stated.

It wasn't a question, but Glorfindel answered it like it was one. "Alas, I do," he confirmed.

"Please sit."

Glorfindel did so, moving Anna from his hip and into her customary place on his lap as Elrond returned to his spot behind his desk. Without further prompting, Glorfindel launched into the story of how he and the company had come across Anna tucked amongst the rocks on the hill in the wake of the storm, and how she claimed to be an orphan, and now had no place to call home. Lord Elrond listened with steepled fingers and a pensive expression.

"And you, Anna, wish to make your home here, in Imladris," her old, male look-alike concluded, addressing her directly.

"Yes sir," she whispered.

"Have you any family here you might stay with?" her queried.

Anna flinched, and much to her relief, Glorfindel stepped in. "Therein lies the problem, Elrond," he said. "She cannot say. Anna claims to have been raised by Men, as her family separated from our people long ago."

Lord Elrond's eyebrows crawled up into his hairline, but he didn't seem as openly skeptical of this not-untrue version of events as Glorfindel was. "Is that so?"

"Yes sir," Anna repeated honestly. After all, it wasn't a lie. She just left out the teensy little detail that her forefathers were the lost Princes of Doriath, and had been sent away for their own safety.

The elf frowned and emitted a thoughtful noise, clearly pondering on the best course of action to take. Anna watched him with bated breath, but dared not interrupt. Glorfindel, it seemed, felt the same, and held his tongue as well. For several long minutes, the study fell into silence.

"You pass like the shadow of a cloud upon the earth within my sight," Elrond finally proclaimed, addressing her directly. "Your presence teases at the edges of my mind, drawing forth old memories and new curiosities. I cannot see you –nor the path you tread—clearly, little gift. Your situation, I think, bears further investigation, and further thought. For tonight, I leave you in Lord Glorfindel's care. We shall meet here again come morning, to discuss who shall be appointed your new guardian."

Somewhat lost in the riddles of Elrond's words, Anna just nodded mutely. She couldn't say what he meant by being able to 'see' her, and was distracted from pondering it by the fact that he had called her 'little gift'. The last person who had named her as such had resurrected her. Naturally, she was more than a little alarmed at this synchronicity. Anna wasn't about to ask Elrond about it though. She knew a dismissal when she heard one; neither was she keen to overstay her welcome. With a few words of farewell, Glorfindel to lifted her up as he stood and resettled Anna on his hip as he had before, subsequently exiting the room. Anna peeked over the elf's shoulder and watched Elrond return to his papers, his face creased with worry and thought and the weight of countless years. He was an interesting specimen, she thought, and she hoped that she would have occasion to see him again.

The door swung shut, and it felt like it closed off an avenue of thought that, had Anna only followed it, would have lead her to a conclusion that would have changed things. It was simultaneously puzzling and frustrating. Anna didn't dwell on it though, a sudden wave of tiredness washing over her. Despite the fact that she hadn't been able to continue her habit of afternoon naps whilst traveling with the elves, the urge to sleep more hours than the night could offer had not left her. Her body was quite ready to sleep at the moment. Glorfindel's steady gait and soothing presence as he carried her through the halls of the Last Homely House nearly lulled her into unconsciousness, but he stopped and entered into a room through one of the countless wooden doors before she could drift off.

"Welcome, Anna, to my chambers," Glorfindel said cheerfully.

Anna looked about her with interest. For all appearances, Anna appeared to be in an apartment of some sorts, lit softly with sunlight and a few candles, though she also spotted a cold fireplace that could have served the lighting purposes better. Currently, Glorfindel was standing in a cozy sitting room, lined with bookcases and a pair of cushy white couches. Two doors lay open upon the walls, one leading to an apparent bedroom and the other arranged much like the sitting room was, albeit with a small desk included, which was strewn with papers and quill pens. Both of the back rooms had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a lush garden, framed by fluttery blue curtains. Anna wasn't quite sure what she'd expected, but this hadn't been it. Not that this was a bad thing. Perhaps her shock stemmed from the fact that her angel obviously lived alone. He was a nice elf, and Anna had thought he would have a sibling or wife or even a cousin living with him. It wasn't the neatest, or the most aesthetically pleasing space, but it looked lived in, and loved.

"I like it," Anna announced at the conclusion of her visual sweep. "It feels happy."

Glorfindel glanced at her, one eyebrow arched. "Indeed?"

Anna nodded sheepishly.

"Are you tired?" he asked her.

Anna contemplated giving him an emphatic 'no' on the off chance that she'd get to see more of Imladris, but she was droopy with weariness and Glorfindel knew it. "Yes," she admitted, turning her face away and burying it into his shoulder. Being here, in Glorfindel's space –his home… Anna suddenly felt shy again. Like the Glorfindel she'd known and come to care for was only one facet of a personality with more complexities than a Spanish soap opera, and she was intruding on something she hadn't the right to intrude upon by being here.

In response to both her reply and actions, Glorfindel just chuckled. "Sleep," he instructed, gently placing her upon one of the couches. It was divinely fluffy. "We will bathe and attend the evening meal in a few hours."

He helped her remove her riding boots and belt, and pilfered a throw pillow and afghan from a trunk in the bedroom, tucking it over her snugly. Anna in no way objected, and nestled into the softness of the couch with a tiny, content sigh. Affectionately, Glorfindel smoothed her hair from her forehead, his eyes soft, before turning to walk away. He didn't get far before Anna called out to him though.

"Glorfindel?" she said sleepily, wincing at the youthfulness of the voice that she was as of yet unaccustomed to. But she was far too soporific to put any effort into sounding more mature than she was.

The elf turned back to her, concerned. "Yes, sweetling?"

"When Lord Elrond sends me away, will you come visit me?" she begged without thought, completely caught up in her childish attachment to her very temporary caretaker. She hoped that she looked as pathetic as she felt, so that her angel would agree. Her squeaky little voice certainly sounded the part.

In that moment, Anna could see a surprising multitude of emotions flicker in Glorfindel's eyes (truly the only place that one could find visible indicators of emotion in an elf). Surprise, tenderness, regret, hope, and sadness, to name a few. The elfling held his stare though, hoping against hope that he would say yes. She loved Glorfindel. The thought that he _wouldn't_ visit her made her want to burst into tears.

"This I swear," he eventually responded with the utmost solemnity. "No matter where you make your home, I will always take time to call upon you."

Anna's heart leaped, and she smiled as brilliantly as she was able to in her drowsy state. "Thank you, angel," she breathed, and succumbed to sleep.

By the time she drifted back into wakefulness, Anna couldn't honestly say how long she'd been napping. She didn't think it had been too long, though, as the sun was still high in the sky and she hadn't the groggy heaviness in her body that always seemed to set in after having spent a long time without moving. (She was a very still sleeper, and hardly ever stirred at all.)

Anna was hard-pressed to suppress a giggle when she sat up and saw Glorfindel, though. The golden-haired elf was sprawled out somewhat haphazardly on another couch, a book open across his chest and his head tilted back over its arm, Noldor-gray eyes wide open and glazed in elven sleep. Thankfully, his mouth wasn't open as well. Anna didn't think she could have held herself together if that were the case.

Humming amusedly, the elfling scrambled from her bubble of warmth and dragged the blanket she'd been using over to her angel and spread it over him as well as she could manage. He stirred slightly, making her freeze in place with hitched breath for several heartbeats, but he didn't wake. Marking his place with a scrap of parchment she snatched from a side table, Anna set his book (an anthology of poetry, she read from the cover) aside and stood back, satisfied with her work. Glorfindel looked much more comfortable now, she determined.

At this point, however, Anna ran out of tasks to keep herself occupied. For a moment, she was tempted to take one of the books off the shelves to read. (They weren't written in any alphabet that she was familiar with, but as it was with her understanding of Sindarin, the vaguely Arabic lettering seemed as intelligible to her as that which she was already accustomed to. Anna simply decided not to question such inexplicable literacy anymore.) However, she wasn't quite certain what she was and wasn't allowed to touch. At all costs, Anna wanted to avoid causing Glorfindel to be angry with her, and she determined that it was best not to handle any of the ellon's possessions without asking first.

But Glorfindel was asleep, and Anna was restlessly bored and utterly incapable of sitting still, now that she'd been allowed a refreshing snooze.

That was when she noticed that the door leading out into the hall was slightly ajar. Feeling faintly ashamed of the burning curiosity that suddenly consumed most of her rational thought –which she blamed upon an underdeveloped frontal lobe—Anna yanked her boots and belt back on and crossed the floor, her doll pulled along in one pale fist. She peeked into the hall. It was quite empty, and quite boring in all honesty, except from an open archway a little ways down the corridor that lead into a garden. Anna suspected from its placement that this was the same garden that could be seen from the windows in Glorfindel's home.

Without much thought, Anna darted down the hall and into the open space. It wasn't until she'd entered the garden that she spared a thought to her sleeping guardian. She hadn't gone far, though, she rationalized, and she could easily find her way back to Glorfindel's rooms. Preferably before he woke up. She just wanted to have a look around.

The argument fell flat, even to Anna's ears, but she found herself too enchanted by the garden she'd encountered to care. It was filled with aspen trees and white wildflowers and tall hedges, creating a labyrinthine atmosphere. A patch of daffodils with their cheery yellow heads bobbing in the faint breeze caught Anna's attention, and with a delighted squeal, she ran to them and crouched, brushing tiny pink fingertips over their petals. The aspen leaves flickered above and around her like stars, and the white flowers puffed like clouds, and Anna herself was entranced with her own personal patch of sunshine.

Imladris was a magical place, she decided. Her own personal heaven.

_Then you should take heaven with you, angel, wherever you go._

A sharp intake of breath shattered the relative quiet of the garden. Shocked at the sound that she herself hadn't emitted, Anna spun around, wide-eyed, in an attempt to identify the source. She didn't have to search for long. To her left was a gap in the hedges through which the path meandered and went on to circle around a charming stone fountain. She hadn't seen this part of the garden before, as her vantage point had allowed the hedges to conceal it from view, but from where she stood now, Anna had a direct line of sight to the fountain. As it so happened, the person perched gracefully on the fountain's lip had a very good view of her as well.

The person who'd gasped was hands-down the most beautiful creature that Anna had ever witnessed living. She was an elleth, with ice-blue eyes and a gleaming burst of silver-white hair. If there ever could be such a thing, Anna would have described her as the personification of winter, dressed in white as she was. She was a Snow Queen. Her skin glittered with the ethereal glow that all elves possessed, but it seemed more like the pale winter sunlight skittering over frosted grass, or even moonlight over snow. It was Anna's turn to gasp as she stared at this woman, stunned out of her customary reaction of fear.

For quite a long moment, the pair simply gazed at each other. Anna dared not move, trapped in the elleth's blue gaze like a deer in headlights.

"Come here, child," the elf finally said, her voice clear and bright as water. She'd broken her posture –which had been stiff in her surprise—to beckon Anna to her side.

Anna didn't even consider disobeying, and allowed her feet to carry her over the path, step after step, until she drew to a halt a mere two feet from the beautiful snow woman, whom she regarded with solemn eyes. She flinched when the larger elleth moved to touch her, but did not move away when she tenderly brushed her dark hair away from her face and ears, drinking in her features with disarming eagerness. To her credit, she did not have an outward reaction to Anna's unusual piercings, outside of allowing her eyes to linger upon the diamond studs for far longer than she otherwise might have.

"What is your name?" Anna asked her, mustering up her courage.

The Snow Queen smiled warmly at her, belying her icily beautiful exterior. "I am called Celebrían," she informed her. "And what might I call you?"

"I am Anna," Anna said simply. She hesitated before adding, "and sometimes Dae."

Celebrían's smile turned soft, and a little mischievous. "Anna is a lovely name," she cooed. "And who is your pretty friend?"

It took Anna a moment to realize that Celebrían was talking about her doll. Reflexively, she hugged her tighter. "I named her Alice," she said meekly.

"That is an unusual name," Celebrían commented. "Lovely, but unusual. What were your reasons for choosing it?"

Unable to help herself, Anna giggled into one hand. "I named her Alice because I fell down the rabbit hole!" She'd considered naming the doll Polonius, due to the fact that she could quite honestly say _'I am slain!'_ but didn't think it was very nice of her to give her innocent doll a boy's name. A shame, really, as she'd always adored Shakespeare.

Understandably, Celebrían appeared somewhat confused.

"It's a children's story, _Alice's Aventures In Wonderland_," Anna explained, smoothing Alice's little blue dress in her hands. "Alice goes on an adventure when she falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in Wonderland. It was my mother's favorite book." The last part was said a bit sadly. Anna and her mother didn't have a lot in common, but one of the best memories she had of the woman was her mother curled up in her armchair, reading aloud from the book for the hundredth time again.

Appearing rather fascinated, Celebrían patted the lip of the fountain at her side, and Anna obligingly crawled up to sit next to her atop the cool stone, trailing an idle hand through the dark water below her. "Will you tell me of it?" the silver elf asked.

Anna bounced excitedly. "I know a poem," she announced proudly. And she did. Her mother had recited it too often when she was younger, and while she didn't know the whole thing, she'd never forgotten the important bits. Celebrían gave her an encouraging nod, and Anna took that as a cue to begin.

"All in the golden afternoon  
Full leisurely we glide;  
For both our oars, with little skill,  
By little arms are plied,  
While little hands make vain pretence  
Our wanderings to guide.

Anon, to sudden silence won,  
In fancy they pursue  
The dream-child moving through a land  
Of wonders wild and new,  
In friendly chat with bird or beast -  
And half believe it true.

Thus grew the tale of Wonderland:  
Thus slowly, one by one,  
Its quaint events were hammered out  
And now the tale is done,  
And home we steer, a merry crew,  
Beneath the setting sun.

Alice! a childish story take,  
And with a gentle hand  
Lay it where Childhood's dreams are twined  
In Memory's mystic band,  
Like pilgrim's wither'd wreath of flowers  
Pluck'd in a far-off land." *[From Lewis Carroll's _Alice's Adventures In Wonderland_]

At the conclusion of her recitation, Anna snapped her mouth shut with a 'click' and blushed pink. Celebrían laughed. It wasn't a mean laugh, though, but a joyful one. "It is very clever, to be sure," she mused, eyes twinkling merrily.

"It's not the whole thing," Anna mumbled, staring down at her lap. "I've forgotten some."

Celebrían cooed and tapped the tip of Anna's nose with one slender finger. "I think it utterly charming," she assured her.

Anna blinked, unused to being babied so blatantly.

"Anna…" Celebrían started, before trailing off. She looked troubled, now. "I have lived in Imladris for a very long time, but never have I seen you before today. From whence do you hail?"

Cringing slightly, Anna opened her mouth to answer when a familiar voice cut through the air.

"Anna! Anna, where are you?" It was Glorfindel. And he did _not_ sound happy.

Immediately, Anna remembered that she'd left her angel sleeping in his home and that she had summarily wandered off. Had a child in her charge done the same, Anna would have been out of her mind with worry. Judging by the near-frantic tone of Glorfindel's voice, he wasn't far off. Leaping to her feet, Anna ran from the fountain, leaving both Alice and Celebrían behind in her haste. Gravel sprayed from beneath her boots as she bolted down the path. Just as she made to enter the hallway from the arch, however, she cannoned straight into the solid mass that was Glorfindel and fell right back onto her bottom.

Sheepishly, she looked up from where she'd landed and risked meeting the elf's eyes.

He was _angry._ In his anger, he seemed even taller than he normally was. Anna was effectively cowed.

"What are you doing out here, Anna?" he asked in a voice that was deadly calm and very deep.

Guiltily, Anna lowered her gaze and wrung her hands together. "I didn't want to wake you, and I saw the garden in the window so I… I came to see it," she whimpered.

Her angel heaved a steadying sigh and crouched down so that his head was closer to her level. "Look at me," he demanded. Reluctantly, Anna obeyed. Glorfindel's expression wasn't as angry as it had been, and was now quite serious. Worse yet, it was disappointed. "You scared me, sweetling, do you understand?"

Anna simply stared at him, too terrified to respond properly.

"It is my duty to keep you from harm, Anna," he elaborated, capturing her little hands in his big ones and squeezing carefully. "You must never run off without telling me where you intend to go –or who you intend to keep you safe in my stead—again. Not so long as I am your caretaker. You must promise me this."

Feeling (which at this point was beginning to be characteristically) weepy, Anna swiped at her eyes and nodded her assent. "I promise." Glorfindel had never looked at her that way before: like he was disappointed. She almost preferred when he had looked angry, she hated that look so much. It felt like she had swallowed a boulder. Anna wasn't used to having to ask permission to do things, or having to tell someone where she was going. She hadn't had to do that since she was thirteen. It was disconcerting, but she supposed that she'd have to get used to it, eventually.

Because this wasn't home, and she wasn't the girl who had died. Not anymore. This was a new home, a new start, and a new Anna, and the faster she accepted that, the better off she'd be.

Anna supposed that she must have looked exceedingly pitiful, because Glorfindel's features suddenly softened and he promptly scooped her up into his arms and hugged her tightly. This was an action that she adamantly returned, winding her arms around his neck and hiding her face in his shoulder. "Thank you, sweetling," he sighed into her hair.

"Lord Glorfindel?" a woman's voice called. The pair of them started, and Anna belatedly realized that Celebrían must have followed her when she'd taken off so suddenly.

"Lady Celebrían," Glorfindel greeted her warmly, taking a few steps into the gardens. Anna was still hiding her face, so she couldn't observe their interaction. Still, her angel's voice was smiling, and she couldn't imagine anyone disliking the beautiful winter elleth.

"Elrond did not inform me that you had returned," she said, sounding quite put out.

Glorfindel chuckled. "Perhaps then _you_ should inform _him_ that you are displeased," he suggested.

In response, Celebrían laughed. "Perhaps I shall," she chimed. Anna then felt a cool hand on her back. "Anna," Celebrian hummed. "You have forgotten something."

Reluctantly, Anna unglued herself from Glorfindel's tunic and peeked out at her. Much to Anna's delight, Celebrían had brought her doll back to her. "Alice!" she cried happily, hugging the toy to her. "Thank you, Lady Celebrían," she added timidly.

The older elleth smiled at her warmly, before turning back to Glorfindel. "I know her not, Glorfindel, but dear Anna seems to know _you_," she pointed out.

"Anna is a foundling," Glorfindel explained. "She was brought in by my patrol. Your husband has granted her permission to make her home here, in Imladris."

Anna blinked. _Her husband?_ Celebrían must be married to Lord Elrond, she realized.

For her part, Celebrían appeared intrigued. "Truly?" she exclaimed. "Who will foster her?"

"That has yet to be decided," Glorfindel said mildly, even as Anna's gut clenched at the thought. "But if you will excuse us, both Anna and I must pay a visit to the bathhouses prior to the evening meal, to rid ourselves of the dust of the road."

The Lady of Imladris nodded her understanding. "I could take Anna myself, if you wish," she offered. "Surely some of Arwen's old clothes would fit her, and Anna would be returned to your care when we eat tonight."

Before she knew it, Anna had been transferred from Glorfindel's arms into Celebrían's arms with a whispered instruction to be kind to the Lady and to look for him at the evening meal. Immediately following the exchange, Celebrían set off down the hall at a brisk pace, clearly eager to get going. Disoriented, Anna could only peep over the elleth's shoulder at Glorfindel as he stood and waved to her, his eyes laughing at her betrayed expression. To his credit, the elf did look like he felt a little bad about sending her off with Celebrían with hardly a word, but Anna was beginning to understand that Celebrían was indeed a Snow Queen. Not that she was cold –for indeed, her personality was warm and bubbly as sunshine—but in that Celebrían was, in and of herself, a powerful force of nature.

If the Lady of Imladris wanted to baby Anna, no one -not even Glorfindel- would dare attempt to stop her.

Anna didn't know how she felt about that.

* * *

_A/N: So that's Elrond and Celebrían. You can't tell so much here, but I've decided to take Celebrían's character away from the stereotypical 'I-am-a-she-elf-and-I-am-kind-and-beautiful-and-quietly-philosophical-and-utterly-perfect' stuff that I typically see, and make her a bit more quirky in that she'll be a bit of a spitfire, not to mention a complete overbearing mother hen. (Which isn't a bad thing, mind you. As an adult, I certainly don't mind my mother babying me with lots of food and kisses when I come home.) But it's not stereotypical of an elf Lady, and I want each character I introduce (Elladan, Elrohir, Arwen, Erestor, amongst others that will be later included) to be unique and not a paragon of perfection. Elves might be all... elf-like, but they aren't perfect, and I'm very eager to portray a race that is flawed, but also capable of extraordinary acts of good, healing, and redemption._

_So, yeah. I don't even know where that rant came from, but there you have it. Let's just say that it's cloudy with a 90% chance of some in-depth characters and leave it at that, shall we?_

_As always, reviews and feedback are very helpful, and most appreciated._


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